3.036 working

Friday 01/07/2022

Thought I would just log what I did today.

• 8am messaged Chris, facilities mgr, asking for a short meeting
• 7:30 handle email from someone who needs to take their name off the sign-up list.
• 8:10 Carol, pres. of the RA, sends email “big trouble at breakfast” the line got real long and people couldn’t find their trays.
• 8:20 I go down and check things out. Nobody in line now. But the kitchen staff are not writing the room numbers on the tray tags. This forces elderly people to peer closely at each tag which is machine-printed in pale gray dot matrix.
• I find the dining supervisor and politely stress how very very helpful it was yesterday when kitchen wrote room #s with sharpie on tags. She understands and will comply.
• 8:30 Chris replies, 2-2:30.
• 8:30 I email Marcia, is 2pm ok?
• 8:31 I go for my walk.
• 9:30 I stop at Ace Hardware and buy a card with 3 sharpies
• 9:45 Marcia says 2pm is ok, but she has another meeting at 2:30
• 9:46 I reply ok meet in the basement at 2
• 9:50 I put in my orders for lunch and dinner
• 10:00 I run downstairs and tape the card of sharpies to the podium where the carts are lined up. Now volunteers can write room numbers on tickets if need be.
• 10:10 I write a diplomatic response to Sue who is bothered by how trays come out in (she thinks) random order (they don’t — quite) and people aren’t social distancing while waiting.
• 10:34 Jerry writes he has the auditorium camera working and will be in the auditorium to demonstrate at 11am. Jerry only sent it to the AV team.
• 10:38 I forward that note to the house IT tech Paul in case he can make it.
• 10:40 print XFinity bill (yeah I know wasted paper)
• 10:41 Chris says meet in lobby, i pass that on to Marcia
• 10:48 pay Xfinity bill and file it
• 10:55 head to auditorium
• Jerry demonstrates & explains what he’s learned about the camera. Fortunately Paul got my email and arrives in time to hear. Discussion about what we need to do zoom simulcasts
• 11:30 I move to the dining room and oversee the volunteers distributing trays. The process seems to work well now, the kitchen staff are writing the room numbers on the tickets as we requested and that smooths it all out.
• 12:30 my lunch comes out of the kitchen and I take it upstairs to eat.
• I set an alarm for 1:50, then squeeze in some internet and a nap
• Wake up ahead of alarm. Go downstairs. Marcia joins me, we work out a couple of things.
• Chris the Facilities manager (a very nice guy) joins us and we learn a number of things:
  • facilities has 5 people sheltering at home hence their problems
  • they will start coming back next week hopefully
  • meantime they do have coverage between 6 and 11pm when the night security guard comes in
  • so no real need for volunteers escorting EMTs
  • Lockouts are not a problem since the renovation was completed, it is no longer physically possible for people to lock themselves out of their doors
• So basically, the volunteer tasks we thought we had for him, aren’t needed. Yay!
• As we were dispersing Marcia spotted LaToya, dining supervisor and we got some info from her to squelch various rumors we had been hearing.
• Back to my room; message light blinking, Mary Ann needs help with online ordering, I call her back and direct her to help
• 2:35 Called Bert and suggested the Tech Squad that he chairs, should help people learn to do online ordering. He said, normally we fix things, we don’t do training, but since this is very focused and it’s a critical time, ok, and he will say so on tonight’s general meeting.
• 2:45 called Diane Allen to pursue my other project, funding for the RA. She was very helpful, from her memory as one-time Archivist,
  • The Gift Shop has always been its own thing, formed early on by some residents who thought we should have one, and got permission from the Board (not from the Resident Association, the real Board that governs Channing House)
  • Historically it has always generated income which it has given out on request to various projects, for instance it bought our ping-pong tables (I’ve never seen them) and gives money to the RA on request as I’ve observed.
  • But no formal arrangement or relation exists between the RA and GS.
  • GS has its own Treasurer, a more demanding job than RA Treasurer because they have to calculate and pay sales tax!
  • Mary Beth, present GS manager, has said to Diane that she’d like to have the issue of funds disbursement off her desk and, Diane thinks, has talked to Carol our RA President.
• Diane and I agreed it made great sense for the GS to be part of the RA, and the GS manager to be an elective office and a member of the Exec Committee. But how to make that happen?
• Now I need to talk to Carol and to Mary Beth, but this is very hopeful.
• 3:05 Humming bird feeders are empty. Refill
• 3:10 I have almost an hour free before the 4pm general meeting chaired by Rhonda to read my email and then some other internet things
• 3:15 Bert has put out notice of tech help for meal ordering on CHBB already
• reduce inbox to only 4 items
• Reading minutes of the floor reps meeting yesterday, find we are in good shape from a marketing perspective,
  • five move-ins scheduled in the next two weeks (if not delayed by Covid considerations) she expects that seven more contracts will be signed by the end of February.
• Two of those move-ins are on my 6th floor, one across the hall.

Rhonda’s announcements. No new positives to announce. Tested all staff yesterday, responses will come back over the next 2 days. Lee Center residents and all staff will be tested again next week. Voluntary testing will be offered to all Tower residents next week. (I need to sign up. If you test positive you isolate in your room. Staffing: ‘every hour we learn of staff that cannot report to work” because of exposure from family or other causes. Expect to see staff reallocated.

Questions: can we have the grab’n’go back? Closed for infection control. Also takes staff time to prepare sandwiches etc to put in it.

Rhonda: staff shortages mean that the remainder are exhausted — of all the weeks of the pandemic I think this has been one of the hardest.

Much more chit-chat and questions, although everybody remained positive and civil.

• 5pm, went down to make sure this evening’s tray dispensing volunteers were comfortable. Stayed with them, admiring the competence and good humor of my neighbors, until my tray came out.
• 6:30 sat down at my little table to eat
• 7:00 sat down to veg out for a bit and then watch SWBB — playing at home but no audience allowed, so on TV.
• Oregon played hard but Stanford pulled out to 14 ahead, then they played even the rest of the way, winning by 10.
• 9:00 going to bed to read for a while.