Minneapolis-St. Paul airport hates foxes. Kind of a harsh move but I suppose that a plane hitting one and careening off of the runway isn't ideal either.

These past couple of weeks have proven that getting a Go-To card was a good choice - I've done 2 overnights in this time and both times I came out and my van wouldn't start. I'm not sure what's happening - I have a locked gas cap, although it's cheap - maybe someone has a matching key and is siphoning gas... The last time it started after some more gas was added - my gauge doesn't work so I estimate gas by keeping track of the miles - this seems to be slightly inaccurate now due to the ice and snow.
I don't mind bussing, in fact, the last time I had to do it after working (the evening after Christmas Day), it was nice to go out into the crisp, sunny morning and not have to rush around to get home or to my day job. The shelter volunteer room gets kind of hot and stuffy overnight. Also, just being in the building for that long wears you out a bit.

Another common theme lately is verbal confrontations in the evenings - last week it revolved around race. Last night, it was a variety of things - I got a knock on the door around 11:30 or so to come intervene on a confrontation. I was able to pull the involved parties into the hall to figure out what was going on. There was lots of huffing and chest puffing. As things began to escalate highly again, I surveyed my position in accordance to the gents that would be throwing fists and realized that I would most likely be in the line of fire if it came to blows - I was backed against a wall with both of them directly in front of me. My only escape route if things went sour was into the men's bathroom! Ack! That being said, there were at least 3 other men within arms length that were there to step in and help if the situation blew up too much. But still. Next time I will have to be more aware of where I stand.
While trying to de-escalate the remaining party after the other person yielded and went to his bunk, things came out of my mouth that I don't even know where it came from!! I guess some of it was instinct, some was training and some was almost mothering type of guidance. Ultimately, the words from a fellow guest were what got the man to settle down and go lie down, in a different bunk (I gave him 3 options: Leave for the evening, Relocate to a different bed for the night, or come sit, talk and settle down and go back to his original bed).
In the end, it was a good learning experience although it took much longer to diffuse the situation than I would have liked (it seemed like a half an hour). I would rather these incidents not happen but the combinations of stress, mental illness, street mentality, group living and whatever else factors in kind of makes it inevitable. Just as it was at the group home I worked in before - drama just happens.

I'm kind of spent though - I worked my 8 hours yesterday, went home for about 45 minutes, got to the shelter at 5 and slept from a little past Midnight (because of the above) to 4:30 am (early worker had to be up - my alarm was set for 3:58pm though and he knocked to get cereal and lunch - I should have been up at 4am to wake him! Gah!), went out this morning to a non-functional van and walked/bussed to my day job to get started again at 8am.

I am going to bed early tonight!

Wahhs of the day

First Wahhh:
I'm slightly aggro that there is no coffee shop within walking distance of work. In fact, the closest one is probably 10+ blocks away! I am in a gentrification free zone (which is a good thing otherwise) between Uptown and Powderhorn where there a lot of Latino restuarants, fast food joints and random stores but no coffee shop.

What is the world coming to??! Some days, I just want to run out and pick up some good coffee or an Americano, jeesh!

Second Wahhh:
The thick slippery cruddy ice can go now. It's putting a cramp in my alternative transportation plans and making me walk funny. It's also making me fret about the old man we have in shelter right now that walks with a walker because of a leg issue. How can he walk on this stuff AND navigate his walker around the big snow chunks and icy spots??

File under: Now that's Dedication!

Last night as I was headed home after work (x2), I was driving East on Franklin trying to navigate the snowy roads, no lane in sight. Very few people on the street, but as I always do through there, I was peering out at who WAS there trying to see if any of them were guys that may have stayed at the shelter. I got a little past Chicago and see some young hipster looking chap trodding through the snow carrying a case of Black Label. I wondered to myself if he had just walked all the way from Zipps, a store probably 10+ blocks from where he was at that point. The only other thoughts were that he had rode the bus half way and walked the rest or that he bailed on a party and took his booze with him.

Either way, it takes dedication to take your case of Black Label for a walk at 10:30 at night in the middle of a major winter snowstorm!

It's that time of year again!

The 2010 Art Sled Rally will be held at 3pm on Jan. 30th on the West side of Powderhorn Park.

Don't miss out!

Apparently no one is working today...I've already been forwarded 2 joke/fun e-mails this morning and it's not even 9! And I'm sitting here blogging about it!

Just as I was wrapping up to leave the shelter last night, as in 10:04 or something, I get a report of a man down. Upon my investigation, I found a young guy lying on the floor, balled up, kind of rolling back and forth and groaning. Hmm. He had been vomiting and the cold floor felt better to him. He declined any help - ambulance, water, cold rag for his face. I kind of felt helpless at that point.
I filled in the 2 overnight volunteers of the situation and one of them was able to convince E to take a glass of water and a puke bucket. Hopefully all was well the rest of the night.

Other good things:

• Becoming reaquainted with Oregon Trail, ver. 5 in this case. Yay for pirated games!
• Wrapping x-mas gifts for the shelter guests and program clients at the women's shelter - I get the joy of giving without emptying my already empty wallet. Plans to donate $50 to the shelter I worked at back home to be used for gas cards had to be dismissed due to low funds after the big vet visit with Pepper. Looking ahead, I was considering how much it would cost (total) to buy each guy at the men's shelter a ticket to the Riverview ($2 theatre) but then I wondered if they would use them as the theatre is quite far to walk to and they don't get bus fare often. It probably sounds like a better idea than it is...
• My new budget diet. I already feel better with less food! Minus all of the x-mas cookies my boss has been sharing and the leftover Halloween candy donated by the dentist buyback after Halloween program we have stashed down here. Gah!

I was able to get started on my first Shelter Advocate training shift last night. It was nothing major - just headed over to the lottery to learn the details (I was aware of the general process and idea, having attended before). This included breathalizing - this was my first time doing this but there wasn't too much to mess up thankfully. Aside from a couple of resistant men (to the breathalizer idea), it went smoothly.

Tonight and tomorrow I'm putting in 2 more 5 hour training shifts. I am pretty confident about the job overall although the new position jitters are there anyway - that's just me. The only other bummer is that I still have to work 8 hours prior to going in to fulfill my 5 hours. Having done it many times before, I know how to handle it but I also know that there will be times that it will catch up to me.

All in all, I am very excited about my new beginning and beyond. Knowing how many job seekers are out there, I know how lucky I am to be given this opportunity. I've worked hard for the past year and a half to try to find something in the field, even before the cafe closed and I lost my job, I was applying to anything that sounded like a good fit. I really fought settling for something that was going to derail my career path knowing how tight the market is. Patience has paid off (although, typical me, I was so happy to be offered the position, I actually didn't ASK about the pay but I'm not worried - I'll make it work one way or another).

I've come to realize that some of my failings at stretching the bucks has to do with my lack of expertise at cooking meals that one would want to eat, on less. Anyone can make spagetti but do you want to eat it everyday? Well, I don't.

My recent discovery of one of the miracles of cheap eats: Spring Rolls
Who knew that they were so cheap AND easy to make?! Probably everyone but me actually, but that's okay. Life is my school and I've done learned.

In an effort to ramp up my biking and to stretch my post-christmas gift shopping bucks, I rode in this morning. It was a slow trip and the road was still to "bumpy" with snow lumps for my comfort. Having nearly bit it before I even left view of my driveway, I wondered to myself whether or not the Surly would be as trusty a winter ride as my old Uno was. I really, really wish I had of held off and not sold that bike - I miss it like the dickens. I'm thinking that the upright North Road bars create too much play in my steering therefore increasing the chance I might hit the road - literally. Possibly after the holiday season passes I will switch out the bars, I've been back and forth so much about it, I need to just make a decision already.

All this being said, my time is just about to become very limited and I foresee driving to remain the dominent force for a while potentially. In addition to my 38 hour work week as an office dweeb at the women's shelter, I start classes again on January 11th and am supposed to begin a part-time night job at "the men's shelter of my choice" any day now - those will take up every Mon-Thurs and every other Friday in addition to an afternoon Saturday class. While I will probably want to pull my hair out, it will all pay off in the end.

I interviewed at one of the other small shelters last week but an offer came in at my 1st choice and it's more hours (also, I don't have to do laundry and would have had to at the "other place" - insert fist pumping into air!!).

The dog decided to be a pain in my arse and have gastrointestinal problems the day before our Michigan trip last week - that set me back $190 and make the x-mas gifts more sparse...

A virtual blizzard also cancelled plans concurrently. Oh well, if I don't go before I start school, I guess March is the next best time although I suppose I could miss one week's worth of classes to go home if I wanted to.

In other news, I'm officially an old lady now. I've had a secret O magazine thing for a while but never have bought one, I just read them when I run across one. Well, now, I've scored a $5 subscription via Amazon and my SIL gave it to me for a gift. Now I can't deny my transformation into little-ol-lady-hey-who! as Ariana would say.

Okay, time to bundle up and ride the lumpy roads...

Beautiful photo essay (with audio snippets of interviews and neighborhood noise) of the Park Slope Neighborhood in NYC - a friend posted it on lj, I had to share it.

Good things:

- Ariana made Spring Rolls last night. And she's fast at it. I think she whipped up 10 or so. Soo good. I couldn't stop eating them, dipped in chili paste and soy sauce alternately. My lips were still burning today.

- My newest project at work - compiling resources for our new Resource Counselor Center. I loooveee gathering up information for services. Hennepin County has so much to offer people in regards to social services, free events, assistance to get back on your feet, etc...
When I moved here, I was used to no services. When I was pregnant, I slept on an air mattress that would deflate overnight, towards the end, I had to roll off in the morning. Once Ariana was born, we had no way to move our real mattress out here and due to an layoff, we couldn't afford to buy a replacement. We all slept on blankets stacked on the floor, baby included. If I had of known of Bridging back then, or felt that we qualified, I could have tried to get a referral there. It took us a while to build up furniture (I suppose we could have charged some but back then I was afraid to use the credit card, I didn't want to have debt - SMART!) so in the meantime, we sat on camp chairs, the ones that fold up and tuck into little bags. Eventually we found a tv stand at the side of our complex's dumpster. Next came a cool lamp (which I still hold dear) and drafting table (sadly, I tossed it during the split) that the guys upstairs from us had left behind - at that point we were caretakers and had to do "turns" when tenants left, that included cleaning up their mess as well.

- Pineda Tacos! I had a chance to scout out the original Pineda - it is within walking/biking distance of my work. I have to stick close due to a short lunch (30 mins) and it's mostly fast food junk super close. I'm happy to see I can zip over to Pineda for some real food.