New writers and thoughts about them

For nearly three weeks, I have been training two new writers who have joined our team. Both are contractors. One is a young man. The other is an older woman.

It's like night and day with these two. The young man is curious and learns quickly. I see him fitting in well and doing a great job in his role.

The older woman has issues. The first is comprehension. I will mention specific details in an e-mail and she will miss reading them. Something as simple as our manager saying to not come into the office did not register at all in her mind.

I had this brief text chat yesterday, for instance:

I noticed going through her work that involved reading a report that she doesn't pay attention to details. She asked me whether we had an answer when we barely read through it. It makes more sense to me that she does not read carefully -- that she jumps from section to section -- almost as if she's in a rush or is impatient.

She didn't read this exercise carefully. I've noticed this issue with the previous three.

Her third exercise was interesting. She missed step 5. She managed to change step 9 when it wasn't called for. She didn't bother doing steps 10 and 11. Yet, she said that she was done and that her output was the same as her male peer in our training session.

Um, no.

I remember asking her, rather politely, why certain steps were omitted or missed. Typically, when you are following a procedure, you do each step sequentially. I asked if there were too many concepts presented to her. She said maybe. Hmm.

I have concerns about her. I don't think that she'll do well because she can't grasp simple concepts expressed in exercises or messages. She jumps all over the place when reading text and almost seems like she can't focus.

It's weird.

I have both new writers on my team. I get to continue to work with them, which is a breath of fresh air with the young man. However, it requires more effort on my part to work with the older woman and her omitting key details in whatever she is working on.

It's be interesting.

Great conversation and dinner

On Friday night, I went out for dinner with a good friend. She was sweet to treat me to dinner. We are also colleagues.

I gave her Christmas gifts early. Next week, I'm travelling. I get back in early December and fly out again in less than two weeks. I didn't think that we could squeeze in another get-together.

It was great chatting with her. I don't normally talk about my ex-hubby or exes in general, but I did, as did she. It was therapeutic and I realized that I am in a good place in my life.

Later on today, I am getting together with a couple of friends that I haven't seen in over a year. I'm looking forward to it!

Got my first vaccine shot!

I am thankful for getting my first COVID-19 vaccine shot on Friday. Everything went well.

The clinic was at a hockey arena. I haven't stepped foot into one for over a year. It was nice.

Everyone at this arena was helpful, kind, and wonderful. The medical doctor who administered my vaccine shot was so great, explaining what will happen and what symptoms I could feel afterwards. I

 have no soreness in my arm right now. I did have a dull, mild headache. It has since disappeared.

It was a well-organized clinic. My second shot is in August. I took half a day off to get the shot on Friday and will take the other half day then. It's not like I have places to go with my vacation days, so I'm okay taking time off to relax, even if it's getting a vaccination and driving for an hour to get to the clinic.

Leisurely Saturday afternoon until I locked my keys in my car

I had a mixed afternoon on Saturday. It started off great, as I went into a cafe to get a hot chocolate and a cookie. I decided to place both items in my car and pick up some items at a local empanada store.

While waiting for my order at the store, I realized that I didn't have my keys with me. The dread had set in. I had locked my keys in my car.

I went back to my car with my empanadas. Sure enough, I could see my cars sitting on the passenger side.

I used to have CAA, which is the car assistance folks in Canada. Last year, I decided to terminate my membership as my car has roadside assistance.

The catch was that the roadside assistance card was in my purse, which was locked in my car with my keys. Luckily, I had my phone with me. I also had my insurance with my vehicle's identification number on it. However, trying to find the phone number took a few tries.

The first one went to the United States. I realized that when I got a woman with a Spanish accent. She had to transfer me, but she transferred me to another Spanish woman dealing with Lexus cars. I don't have a Lexus. My guy does.

Anyway, the second woman got me a phone number to try for roadside assistance. In the meantime, I found an online form to fill out for the same assistance. I filled out everything, pressed Enter, and got an error to call the phone number. Oh, yay!

Finally, I called the number. You can also get a text message to start the process of outlining your exact location. I did that and all seemed well. However, considering the weird error message that I got, I decided to call back to confirm that the place got it.

Luckily, I spoke with two women who were great. They made sure that I was safe. They let me know that a tow truck guy would be over. This guy managed to unlock my car and help me out roughly an hour later.

I was thankful for all the help. Every decade, I seem to lock my keys in my car. I am glad that I don't do it all the time, but it's good that folks can help me out when I need it.

My sugar levels are great and I'm glad I can touch-type!

On Friday, I went to see my family doctor for my routine three-month checkup. The last time I was there, my sugar levels were higher than normal.

I had bloodwork done on Wednesday. She shared the results with me. Everything looked great. Yay!

I shared that news with my guy. He's proud of me. Getting back on the low-carb routine does wonders.

My doctor has changed her process of note-taking in her office. She now uses a computer instead of writing notes down everywhere. She complained to me that her typing takes forever.

Touch-typing is second nature to me. I suggested that she take a touch-typing course when she has a chance. Once you learn, you're good. I'm so glad that I took this course in my final year of high school. It has served me well.