1, 2, 3, begin.

I met my first client today. I had 2 other clients, but the one girl turned 18 and is no longer a part of our programs. Mentor, at the moment, only handles kids. They aren’t licensed for adults (how’s that work? I have no idea) so they have "lost" kids who’ve turned 18, and they move on somewhere else.  The other girl is 18 in March, and I don’t know what’s happening with her.

(where do they go? I don’t know. I am a mostly empty vessel, ready to be filled with knowledge about my job and who I work for)

I had been hearing about the boy I met today, and it’s been a long drawn-out rumour that the boy would be "my" mentee (hmm. Mentee. I guess that’s right, but, I don’t really like it). I was going to write, "and he’s going to be my boy" and then thought, oh, no. No no no. "My boy". Say it right and it’s downright creepy. Write it and leave it open to interpretation? Umm, no, I think I’ll use different words.

The boy gets 12 hours of my time each week. We are meeting again on Thursday for 4 hours, and will probably start doing 3 4-hour sessions a week. He’s 13 and seems pretty ok to me. The paperwork says something about slow cognitive speed, and hey, do I know something about that. Uh huh, personal knowledge of what’s it’s like to be "slow". I did have a better childhood, it seems. My parents did die, but I didn’t end up in the state foster system, like he did, and his parents did not die, they got divorced, and the kid, maybe not surprisingly, blames the step-mom for the break up. He said some stuff and made some threats, and made his home environment feel "dangerous".

(Lucky for me that when I said that kind of stuff, no one important heard me. If that’s all it takes to get into Foster Care, I am far luckier than I know, cuz I said some shit, and meant it, at the time)

(Teenage boys and home wreckage. Been there, done that, got some experience)

We can work on stuff together.

***

The adult care outfit who I interviewed twice with called me today, but I don’t have blue tooth on this phone. Too bad, in a way, because my Caliber has a built-in hands-free phone system. I didn’t even answer the phone; it’s illegal and is really a bad idea, when you are piloting more than a ton of metal at speed. Studies have shown that phone use in the car distracts drivers from DRIVING and helps cause accidents.

(I did use my hand-free system when I could, when I had the right kind of phone. It’s illegal here to hold the phone up and use it that way – "both hands on the wheel" is a good idea. It was handy – voice dialing, an LED readout on the radio about who’s calling or what number it is, that sort of thing. I liked it, but it can be distracting, and what you are doing at the moment, DRIVING is more important than any telephone call. You cannot be distracted from the deadly weapon a car can be. If it’s that important, pull over)

I think they got the results back and wanna tell me about them, followed by "when are you available?" I would assume anyway, and now that we’re developing a real schedule, I’ll be able to say with authority that I will be available x,y, and z days, at such and such an hour.

(I think that I’m going to give up on ever seeing any of that disability $. I’m not gonna pull if from the docket; I’ll let that string run out, as far as it goes, but wishing in one hand and shitting in the other will fill one hand far faster than the other. Fuck it, I’ll do it my way, however I can. I’ve gotten used to be cripplingly poor. So I’ll work a few part time jobs and as long as I can pay the bills (and keep my black beauty), it’ll work out.

Ah, but that second job. Working in Group Homes with adults. Another aspect of helping people who need help.. I’ll call them tomorrow and we’ll see what we see.

***

a note from the dog side of the family:

I met with and talked with and met the new client with my immediate superior.

She’s in, I guess, her early 30, 2 kids, divorced messily, is from Malaysia, has a helluva tan, and meeeow!

I mean, woof woof! pant pant

Very stylish too. It is going to be nice working with her.

She started this way too, as a Direct Support Professional.

Either way, I see something I like about the job.

***

Heh. I’m a Professional.

***

One more bit of news:  Good News.  17 days without any alcohol.

let me be clearer: I myself hadn’t had a drink since January and I don’t miss it.  J went 16 days without a drink, an accomplishment on the road to not drinking and she’s back up "on the wagon" now.

My friend, who I’ve written about here once or twice, has gone dry.  She decided that (hey!  The Cat’s right!  I don’t have much time!) she was going to stop drinking, and not by any half-measures.  She called me when I was on a short lunch break today.  Her voice sounds clearer.  She sounds fully resolved to NOT DRINK.

( sound of thunderous applause.  Fireworks.  "I can’t believe it!  "Wow!" "Hooray!"  The crowd goes wild )

"Life Skills Trainer".  I can do that job.

 

*****