Health improvement

I am seeing an improvement in my health lately.

Couple of weeks ago, I started wondering if taking Creatine would help with my energy level. So I ordered some pure Creatine, rather than the crap from the store with a bunch of other stuff mixed in. It also turned out to be much cheaper that way. Imagine that.

Since I started taking it, I have been sleeping a little less and my energy is improving.

My biggest concern at first was how it would affect my UC. Information online was contradictory but I suspect many negative reports were from people who took the mixtures I wanted to avoid. Other reports say it helps increase the healthy flora in the intestines. That makes sense, medically. 

It is also having some other positive effects which were not expected. That's more private, so I will not go into details. 

In any case, I will continue taking it because of the positive effects. 

More OT

I signed up for another extra shift for this Fri. 

Not for the money. Though the money is good. For three extra shifts, I will earn over $1200 extra in one month. Before taxes. 

Unfortunately it does mean I am working 7 days in a row. 

The reason I signed up for it is because there are 9 shifts that needed coverage in just one week. My fear is if I don't pick up extra hours the ones to suffer will be the residents and other staff. There were two nurse shifts open for Fri night alone. 

Of course, the extra money will make the move more secure. Maybe let me invest a bit more in the house and increase the value before selling. 

The down side is that it takes time away from being able to do the work on the house. Oh, well. I also have PTO accumulated which adds up to a week's worth. 

I have decided that if more shifts are open on my days off, I will probably go ahead and work more OT. For all the reasons stated above. 

I keep trying to get to sleep earlier but can't. If I could get to sleep earlier, maybe I'd have more energy and time to get things done in between work. I sure as hell used to do that! 

Fixing up

So, I am much closer to being able to move to Alabama.

I haven't written here for a long time. Since the last time I wrote (I think) daughter told me they bought a house there. So they're staying.

Now close to my savings goal of $10k for the move. After bills, I have about $7k in the bank. In March I have 3 paychecks instead of 2. Then on March 28th I will have earned the last and largest part of my sign-on bonus for my job. That's $2500 before taxes. Part of the money already in the bank is my tax refund. 

Even with the tax refund, I have not done poorly on savings. I started the job in late Sept, so had no check that month. In Oct, I had some catching up to do from being out of work all summer. In Nov, I was assaulted and the car was stolen. Cost $300 to get it back. Then got followed by my assailant several times, so I spent money to buy a gun, ammo and going to the range. Little or no savings that month. Then came Dec and I was fairly generous for Christmas. Not much that month. So most of my savings have come from Jan and Feb. I jumped from $2800 on 1/13/17 to $7k as of now. In some ways, I'm not even completely sure how that happened so quickly. 

I've been getting rid of things I no longer need. Just giving stuff away. Not really worth enough money for the effort to sell. If I'm going to put out that kind of effort, it's more profitable to work an extra shift at work. 

Today I took down pictures and packed them. Plastered holes in walls and ceilings. Was happy to see Walmart has interior paint for $68 for 5 gals. Have to check on exterior paint. I already bought black paint for trim and doors. 

Strange when you're getting ready to leave a place that you notice things you either never noticed or became accustomed to over time, so it was no longer in your consciousness. Like the fact that cabinets on one side of the kitchen have knobs and the ones on the opposite side do not. I'll install knobs on all of them to increase aesthetics. 

I already submitted my resignation notice at work. Last day planned to work is 3/30/17. Then I have PTO saved up. I wanted to give them as much time as possible to hire, orient and train a replacement. That gives them 5 weeks, which is reasonable. Staffing is in raging turmoil right now. One nurse was fired. Another suspended for alleged abuse. Another is resigning to start a new job. One more is on contract and her contract ends 4/6/17. 

Funny thing. Same day I submitted my resume (left the night before for the DON) there was someone from the corporate office who came in and interviewed residents. They asked who they like and who they don't. Apparently my name came up in a positive way multiple times. I can picture that in my head. "Crap. Of course it's the guy who just submitted his resignation!" Though after 3/30/17 I did tell them I may be able to work a few evening shifts PRN if needed. Not a lot but some. Mostly I want to use that time to work on the final stages of the house and get it on the market. 

The housing market is up right now and home values have risen an average of 30% since I got the house in 2009. So I am really hopeful to walk away with a profit, which I can use as a down payment when I go to buy a new house in AL. Home prices there are much cheaper than here. I still owe $76k on this house, while a similar size house with a larger yard goes for around $50k there. 

Something I like is that soil is much better there. It will not take nearly as much time or effort to get a garden going. 

Okay, going to watch some videos and go to sleep. Picking up an extra shift tomorrow.