My experience is very different from Brittany's here, not because we actually do anything separately, but because we are just so different. I'm thankful for that. I am more solitary, I think. Or maybe it's just that during college, I got used to only being around one other person for most of the time and this is pretty similar even though it's completely different. Having Brittany around all the time is so much better than being by myself, and I remember Graham saying one time that you become such a weenie so fast about sleeping by yourself. My sanity is closely tied to Brittany. I enjoying having someone to rely on. There's a verse about a man who works in a field by himself. Who will pick him up if he falls?
Then there's work. Work is an adventure. I swore up and down for a very long time that I would never work in healthcare. Being the son of a doctor has a funny way of eliminating one career path very quickly. My appraisal was always that I didn't want to be a doctor because they work too hard. That (and a loathing of biology or freshman year or something) were what steered me early toward some other applied scientific pursuit. Engineering is clearly a good place to go if you're trying to work less hard than a doctor. Fortunately the engineering industry sucks and here I am. At least once a day I try to figure out how the monster that is healthcare even exists without imploding. I've still never found any good indications except that it somehow continues to work.
When I got to Matrix, I started as a customer service rep [CSR] and first entered data, then called insurance companies to get medical equipment authorized, then eventually played cleanup for all the orders that had passed those two steps. I got doctor information, located suppliers, and made sure packages got to their desired destinations. Chuck also enjoyed giving me tasks like reading long laws and figuring out problems in the computer system. Finally someone figured out I am good at math and very careful and made me review invoices for A/P and A/R. I liked all these things. I take a lot of pride in my work and always apply myself to whatever is given to me. I'm also an analytical thinker and take careful inventories about processes, operations, and procedures in my brain all the time (it's either wonderful or horrible). When Stuart realized I knew exactly how long each process department took, he locked me in a room painted with whiteboards, and two days later we had a streamlined operations plan.
Meanwhile, I applied to be Team Lead for the Ancillary department and won the promotion and tried to play defense for my supervisor; I handled routine questions so she could focus on other things. In early December I presented the Ancillary Operations proposal to my manager, the VP of my department, and the CFO. The CEO had a soft copy the next day, and quickly everyone was in favor of implementing the new plan. On Friday that was put into effect, and I was promoted to Supervisor of Ancillary Support. Basically, Stuart and I figured out that there is a Customer Service side and a Logistics side of the process which occurs in my department. I am the head of the Logistics side. (See illustration)
I realized that funny niche industries are a little confusing. This is basically what happens. Brittany works in Provider Relations making sure everyone stays in line.
Conclusions are not my strong suit. I don't have any good ending like Brittany always does (and I apologize for bringing the quality of the writing on this blog down by posting). That is a recap of some parts of my life in the last 6 months.
I hope all who read this are well. I hope you see beauty in difficulty and hope in dark stormy nights.
"Oh sister in our darkness a light shines. And all I want to say for the rest of my life is how that light is God. And though I've been mistaken on this or that point, that light is God."
