Information

I like information.  Its why I obsessively research damn near everything.  We call it 'falling down the rabbit hole' in our house and I have fallen down quite a few.  I have read far more than any human being not in the their respective fields about laundry soap for Q's clothes and diapers, car seats, body soap, and mattresses among other things.  Really, you name it, I have probably spent at least an hour researching it as it relates to Q.  Or for electronics.  Or cars.  Or restaurants.  Anyway, I think you get the idea.

So, it may come as no surprise that now that I find myself in a potentially weird position at work, I am uncomfortable with an overall lack of data to work from.  I have read large swaths of the ONA contract, and have tried to extrapolate as much information as I could, but it isn't 'concrete' because I don't know if I will be considered an inpatient or outpatient nurse at OHSU (or if they do not distinguish, via varying pay rates, between then).  From what I could gather, even at 80%, I would be getting nearly 2.5 weeks of additional paid time off (mostly through pay for holidays, which I do not get now, and about $1700 of employer contributions to retirement annually.  All told, it could be a net benefit (gross not take home) of approximately $5500.  Not too shabby.  But, as we do not receive our offer letters until the 24th, it is not a certainty.  Plus, they haven't suggested exactly what the pay will be, just that it will be 'comparable.'  Plus, I don't know the work hours.  Plus, I need to learn chemo.....and soon.

The reason this is a problem is that today they posted my current position at EH.  I have to apply for it by the 15th.  Simple math tells me that is 9 days before the other job offer is presented to me.  Unlike the possibility of moving over, staying at EH is a dead certainty.  It is what I have done for years.  Essentially work by my damn self.  I wont go into the pros and cons (I am still tallying them mentally), but I know there are intangible benefits to staying somewhere you are a known quality.  But, if I apply, do I take myself out of the running to so much as hear about the other job?  And, if I do opt to pass, does my job transfer 'as is' (24 hours a week vs. 32)?  So many more questions than that really, but those two are prominent.  I wrote my boss to ask her what her thoughts were on the subject.  More to come when I hear.  And more to come in general.....what a mess.