Being a Temp

When I say that my job as a home health aide is emotionally difficult most people say that they can imagine because often I work with people with developmental disabilities or people who's physical state is deteriorating. Though the state of my patients might be difficult to deal with the part that comes to my mind the most quickly has to do with the fact that I am a temp.

I fill in at group homes that have staffing issues or on the short-term while a client is still at home before they are moved to more regular care. Over the past 8 months I have worked consistently 8-56hours/week at a specific group home for 15 people with heavy developmental disabilities. I know the job and the residents really well, my co-workers seem to like me and I know for a fact the administration loves me. Starting pay for their staff is about $8/hour with benefits. However as a temp I cost this group home about $20/hour, just over half of which I see. The fact of the matter is that I am just too expensive for them. Working directly for them I would have to take a 25% pay cut and I'd have to get involved in their messy internal politics.

This week they managed to hire enough staff to become fully staffed effectively letting me go. The part of this that is the most emotionally difficult is that over the past 8 months I have trained 4 or 5 people to do my job each time decreasing my hours and this last time it put me out of a job. I do go to other clients but they don't pay as well, I get significantly fewer hours and it isn't the group home I know so well. One of the many things that this job has taught me is what it feels like to watch your job be given to someone else who is less skilled, less experienced and an unknown only because they are cheaper labor. As a student of economics I completely understand their position.

Sex and Body (gallery)

The images in this gallery are my final project for a b&w class I took my senior year at EMU.

Essentially the objective of this project was gender fucking which means according to:

www.genderpsycology.org: To purposely present with strongly visible elements of both sexes (e.g., to have a beard and wear a dress). The intent of gender-fucking is typically to provoke people to think about gender roles.

www.urbandictionary.com: Is the lovely practice of bending stereotypical gender appearances and mannerisms resulting in a mix of masculinity, femininity, boy, girl, WHATEVER...

This is very similar to gender bending. I hope you enjoy. The original artist statement can be found by clicking on "view" in the upper left hand corner of the gallery page and then clicking on "About these Photos."

Remember to click on the image to go to the gallery of images.

Developing Landscapes (gallery)

These are photos form my Developing Landscapes photography project for my large format photography class. There are 10 images so make sure to see them all by clicking on the image below. There is also a brief explanation below.


Development is seen as being something that is intrinsically good. In this project I took photos of a Harrisonburg development called Liberty Square. In this development the houses have four different possible color schemes as well as a couple options for accent windows aside from that all of the houses are almost identical. I took these images and cut the houses out using an exacto knife and then taped them onto landscapes. This method of inserting the images was intentionally done to highlight how abnormal these cookie cutter houses appear in landscapes similar to those which they were built upon.

Assisting for Lg. Format Photo

I'm in a large format photography course this semester. I really have fun going out and taking pictures with a really large camera though it does take a long time to get everything set up. You are also not very discrete. The other day, I helped a class mate take a couple pictures (note the classmate hidden behind the large camera immediately below my tiny camera).

I voted in the VA primary.

Tuesday was primary day in VA. Obama swept the state with 64%. While I was waiting in line I heard a 70+ year old woman say, "I've never voted in a primary before," in relation to an explanation that you can only vote either in the Republican or the Democratic primary.

Morning Commute (gallery)

These pictures were taken a week ago as I road home from work the day after the ice storm. The ground is white from the ice coating the grass. Now that the sun is rising just after I get home; whenever I work a night shift the beautiful colors are my reward as I ride home.

Delinquency Notice-5 Day Pay or Quit

I was going to post a lovely little gallery of pictures from my commute the morning after the ice storm when I got home this evening but I was distracted. As it goes, one of my house mates has been delinquent in rent payments, apparently for the past three months. I was made aware of the letter that the rental agency sent to all four of us when I got home, thus the distraction. Start the countdown to potential eviction: 4 days (Don't worry those are just business days, the weekend doesn't count.).

I'll post the morning commute soon, eviction or not. :)

Valentine's Tree

At work we have this Valentine's tree because , well the Christmas tree was still up and it was determined that it'd be unfortunate to take it down what with all the bright lights and such. Though I found this to be a rather humorous curiosity, a co-worker commented that at her house she also had a Valentine's tree. Is there some sort of year-round tree decoration culture that I have been, simply, oblivious to?

Saturday we had a haircutting party.

It started out that we were hanging out. We went out to eat. Some people called and joined us to hang out. Someone needed a haircut and someone else volunteered to cut it. Four people got haircuts. And all were very happy. Kurt, so much so, that he decided to put some of the hair in his mouth. When all of your friends are photographers, they won't tell you that you shouldn't do something. Instead they will make sure that what you do is well documented.

Good Clean Fun at Val's (gallery)

Val had a departure party last week at which she pulled out a mini croquet table. The rules were remembered as we played and even those lagging behind had a shot at winning when the front runners were eliminated. Good clean fun was had by all.

The biscotti and mega fruit cookie also deserve mention. Because val is starting a new baking job I would say that she'll be a great baker except that we already know she is.

almost no soap needed!

At work we have some super high efficiency washing machines. You only put in one level tablespoon of powdered soap and it will get out whatever urine or excrement that might be staining the clothes we've put in, even though the detergent box recommends a minimum of 5-6 times that amount for normal soils.

I must add that I have my doubts about the administration's definition of clean and thus follow the directions on the detergent box. Don't tell them though, people might get in trouble and there are budget constraints.

Good Morning

Many people think that night shift is rough but it has its perks. Every morning I get off work, I have to ride home. This gives me a great opportunity to enjoy the color of the sky.