RANT HERE thread

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On a different rant topic: my dachshund is currently having her second hemilaminectomy. Same site as her one in November 😭 send all your good vibes please

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Update: she’s out of surgery!!! It went well per the vet. More difficult because it was at her previous site so scar tissue but he was as careful as he could be
Sending good vibes for your doxie's recovery!!
 
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My mortgage company underestimated my escrow account by 4k and I have no idea how. There should be 2k in the account now (pay my property taxes next month). And then my home owner's insurance will be in Sept for 6k. They estimated based on my previous insurance rate and taxes. Taxes went up $83 but insurance went up 2k. If I have an increase of 2100, why the hell do I have a deficit of 4k?!?!

Having a phone call with insurance tomorrow and the mortgage company is sending it up the chain of command. Regardless of what happens, I might not keep an escrow account any more and save the money myself over the course of the year.
 
My mortgage company underestimated my escrow account by 4k and I have no idea how. There should be 2k in the account now (pay my property taxes next month). And then my home owner's insurance will be in Sept for 6k. They estimated based on my previous insurance rate and taxes. Taxes went up $83 but insurance went up 2k. If I have an increase of 2100, why the hell do I have a deficit of 4k?!?!

Having a phone call with insurance tomorrow and the mortgage company is sending it up the chain of command. Regardless of what happens, I might not keep an escrow account any more and save the money myself over the course of the year.
Did your taxes or insurance go up a couple months ago or is it a future increase? When my insurance raised my rates significantly, I had an escrow shortfall. I hadn’t been paying enough in, so I had to ā€œmake upā€ that amount that I was behind plus still pay a higher rate to cover the current/future months. so it felt like double what the deficit was. So like if your insurance went up 2k or whatever, you owed that this year but they didn’t make you pay, so now your payment has to increase to pay that ā€œbillā€ on top of the increase of 2k for the next year’s installments. So it feels like double because you’re paying old and current ā€œbillsā€ at the same time. It’s so silly.
 
Did your taxes or insurance go up a couple months ago or is it a future increase? When my insurance raised my rates significantly, I had an escrow shortfall. I hadn’t been paying enough in, so I had to ā€œmake upā€ that amount that I was behind plus still pay a higher rate to cover the current/future months. so it felt like double what the deficit was. So like if your insurance went up 2k or whatever, you owed that this year but they didn’t make you pay, so now your payment has to increase to pay that ā€œbillā€ on top of the increase of 2k for the next year’s installments. So it feels like double because you’re paying old and current ā€œbillsā€ at the same time. It’s so silly.

The insurance went up the 2k last Sept to the 6k, which is why they used the 4k last March. The taxes are 2100 or so ($83 increase) and due this May. There's 2k in the account now (or should be), and will cover taxes. Then 6k due for insurance in Sept.

So I see what your saying when it's laid out like that.

They want to increase my payment either $28 if I pay this in bulk, or $400 if I pay this stretched out over the next 12 months. I funnily enough can afford the first one, and even want to pay a bit extra so my payment stays what it is now. But I absolutely cannot afford a monthly increase of $400.

There's a simpler solution of the husband going back to work. But the quality of life increase of him staying home with the toddler is huge. Ginormous. I'm doing everything I can right now to keep him home if at all possible. But he's willing to go back when I give the word.
 
My mortgage company underestimated my escrow account by 4k and I have no idea how. There should be 2k in the account now (pay my property taxes next month). And then my home owner's insurance will be in Sept for 6k. They estimated based on my previous insurance rate and taxes. Taxes went up $83 but insurance went up 2k. If I have an increase of 2100, why the hell do I have a deficit of 4k?!?!

Having a phone call with insurance tomorrow and the mortgage company is sending it up the chain of command. Regardless of what happens, I might not keep an escrow account any more and save the money myself over the course of the year.
Oh hey! Mine did the same thing! Underestimated my taxes by a LOT. And so I was in the hole by a LOT so they upped my mortgage by about double last august. I’m hoping it’ll go down some in august this year šŸ¤žšŸ¼
 
Left work 4 hours early in tears today, I didn't even tell my manager I was leaving I was so upset that I just left there sobbing. A PI on the project is asking me to learn to do tasks that were not part of my original responsibilities (asking me to learn types of codes and systems for our imaging that was the job of our digital technician who no longer works with us). I feel like a whiney little baby when I complain about these things but I am simply spread too thin and I'm being told that I could do more work.

Working in the lab, working on the computers, working with histology, working with samples, taking said samples across campus to the CT machine, walking back, going to the mouse room, doing mouse room work). I do not even have time for lunch anymore. My schedule is filled from the moment I walk in until past my scheduled hours. Im spoken to like a child and as if any feedback I have to provide is just straight wrong.

Am I just overreacting? Is this just the demands of a FT job? 13/hr and being assigned tasks you have no experience in and was not part of the original job description (basically the lab doesnt have the funds to hire the neccessary person to do said job, so they want me and the other tech to learn them and do it instead). I understand research is a demanding job and I have enjoyed the actual research portion of my job, but the lab is just not communicative...
 
Left work 4 hours early in tears today, I didn't even tell my manager I was leaving I was so upset that I just left there sobbing. A PI on the project is asking me to learn to do tasks that were not part of my original responsibilities (asking me to learn types of codes and systems for our imaging that was the job of our digital technician who no longer works with us). I feel like a whiney little baby when I complain about these things but I am simply spread too thin and I'm being told that I could do more work.

Working in the lab, working on the computers, working with histology, working with samples, taking said samples across campus to the CT machine, walking back, going to the mouse room, doing mouse room work). I do not even have time for lunch anymore. My schedule is filled from the moment I walk in until past my scheduled hours. Im spoken to like a child and as if any feedback I have to provide is just straight wrong.

Am I just overreacting? Is this just the demands of a FT job? 13/hr and being assigned tasks you have no experience in and was not part of the original job description (basically the lab doesnt have the funds to hire the neccessary person to do said job, so they want me and the other tech to learn them and do it instead). I understand research is a demanding job and I have enjoyed the actual research portion of my job, but the lab is just not communicative...
If people are talking down to you, you have every reason to be upset. Being overworked is cause for concern as well. A lot of jobs can be quite demanding but if you are this sunk with the workload, you are probably understaffed to the point where your effort is not sustainable. It's one thing to have a busy day, week, or even month, but if you are so slammed on a daily basis that you can't even get lunch (which may or may not be of legal concern depending on your state), that's a real problem.

Time for a sit down with your manager.
 
I think stuff like that is common, but it shouldn’t be okay. I agree it’s worth talking to your manager about your concerns. Maybe you could even broach the topic in a frame more like..:you’re going to be leaving yourself soon and you’re already fully loaded so maybe it would be better if someone else learned those procedures or they found funds to hire a replacement? Because even if you learn whatever they’re asking, you’re a short timer if you’re moving for vet school soon, so you investing your time I to the lab that way isn’t going to solve the issue long term when someone else will just have to take over in a couple more months.
 
Time for a sit down with your manager.
Maybe you could even broach the topic in a frame more like..:you’re going to be leaving yourself soon and you’re already fully loaded so maybe it would be better if someone else learned those procedures or they found funds to hire a replacement?
Thanks for your responses. They all know I’m leaving soon, so they want me to do as much as I possibly can prior to me leaving so they can push out as many papers and present to as many conferences as possible.

The issue is, my manager is responsible for making my schedule. Its changed on the daily and I’m being told one thing by the manager and another by the PI and I don’t understand what my responsibilities are anymore. Weirdly enough, I don’t even know what this project is fully about. I’ve worked here 7 months and the PI’s have not sat down during a lab meeting to tell me and the other tech what exactly all this work is for. We just do it with no direction or guidance. 7 months in and the manager is still training us on staining techniques and procedures we have done upwards of 50 times since we started. My time is purposely not managed well. I will waste days and weeks away staining slides and processing specimen which they flat out say ā€œWe’re not using these, they’re just for practiceā€, but then I’m expected to know and do work I have 0 experience or training in and I’m met with hostility when I ask for training.

It’s not managed effectively at all. My manager yelled at me yesterday for pointing. When I say yelling, I mean raised her voice, got visibly and audibly angry and used hand gestures to display her anger. There is miscommunications here constantly and I have brought it up so.many.times. I just stopped arguing with them and apologize even when I have done nothing wrong. I’m not the type of person to not admit if I’m in the wrong. I will own up to it 1000%. But when I am asked questions, and I find the answer directly in our own database, provide the answer just to be told I’m wrong…then all of a sudden they huff and puff and say ā€œfine forget it I’ll do it myselfā€ only to find out I was infact correct in the first place.

My abilities and skills are undermined every single day. Their actions speak louder than words. They can sign their emails off with ā€œI appreciate your cooperation and effortsā€ all they want, but I should not be leaving work feeling like I wasted 8,9 even 10 hours of my life to a team who does not value me.

I’ve talked to the PI’s, I’ve talked to my manager. They dismiss me, or just huff and puff and say flat out ā€œForget it, I will do everything myself.ā€ One of my PI’s wanted to be a vet, and recently she asked me where I committed, I answered and not that I expected a ā€œcongratulationsā€ but literally anything other than the answer she gave which was ā€œI applied there three times and was accepted all three times. I was such a good candidate, I would have made such a good vet.ā€ Everything needs to turn into ā€œwoe is meā€, she starts meetings off with ā€œlucky for everyone I’m virtual today so nobody has to see my ugly face!ā€ ā€œunfortunately i’ll be in the office this week so you’ll have to see this annoying faceā€. I literally do not know how to respond ??? The level of flat out unprofessionalism from the PI is insane. I understand what I did today, just walking out without telling anyone but the other tech and the post-doc student, was unprofessional and immature of me. I own up to it. I just simply could not do any more of today.

I’m sorry I went on a little bit of a tangent here. Point is: I’ve tried. There are some good days, but most suck. I feel so guilty leaving because I don’t want to leave the other tech by herself. I was planning to leave end of June to plan for my move, but now that I think about it, I want to enjoy some of my summer. I want to travel before I leave the east coast. I want to go to my friend’s graduations and visit my cousins.

I just feel stuck.
 
I need like 20 hits of vitamin D March & February have had me like this
crashing out.jpg
 
I’m genuinely so burnt out at my VA job. I love my coworkers and my boss. And I genuinely like a lot of our clients as well!! I feel I have found my unicorn clinic and it’s gonna be so hard to leave in August when I go to vet school. But I also don’t know if I’m going to be able to last until August. I’ve been at this job since last February. Things were really good April - November of last year because we were mostly fully staffed. Then in November one of my coworkers moved. So we were down one. Okay fine we were making it work. It’s now almost six months later and we still haven’t hired anyone. And now another one of my coworkers had a personal emergency so she is going to be gone for I don’t even know how long. So now it’s either work 50 hours a week or be short staffed. I feel so guilty saying no and actually taking my time off. The hours are becoming so much that it’s starting to affect my relationships and my mental health. It’s probably beyond just simply affecting my mental health. We need to hire more people but it seems so hopeless because the hiring managers are not picky per se but want qualified people. And then they do offer the job to someone and the person either ends up turning down the job or just ghosting. I feel like I am in a sinking ship and it’s only getting worse and worse.
 
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Thanks for your responses. They all know I’m leaving soon, so they want me to do as much as I possibly can prior to me leaving so they can push out as many papers and present to as many conferences as possible.

The issue is, my manager is responsible for making my schedule. Its changed on the daily and I’m being told one thing by the manager and another by the PI and I don’t understand what my responsibilities are anymore. Weirdly enough, I don’t even know what this project is fully about. I’ve worked here 7 months and the PI’s have not sat down during a lab meeting to tell me and the other tech what exactly all this work is for. We just do it with no direction or guidance. 7 months in and the manager is still training us on staining techniques and procedures we have done upwards of 50 times since we started. My time is purposely not managed well. I will waste days and weeks away staining slides and processing specimen which they flat out say ā€œWe’re not using these, they’re just for practiceā€, but then I’m expected to know and do work I have 0 experience or training in and I’m met with hostility when I ask for training.

It’s not managed effectively at all. My manager yelled at me yesterday for pointing. When I say yelling, I mean raised her voice, got visibly and audibly angry and used hand gestures to display her anger. There is miscommunications here constantly and I have brought it up so.many.times. I just stopped arguing with them and apologize even when I have done nothing wrong. I’m not the type of person to not admit if I’m in the wrong. I will own up to it 1000%. But when I am asked questions, and I find the answer directly in our own database, provide the answer just to be told I’m wrong…then all of a sudden they huff and puff and say ā€œfine forget it I’ll do it myselfā€ only to find out I was infact correct in the first place.

My abilities and skills are undermined every single day. Their actions speak louder than words. They can sign their emails off with ā€œI appreciate your cooperation and effortsā€ all they want, but I should not be leaving work feeling like I wasted 8,9 even 10 hours of my life to a team who does not value me.

I’ve talked to the PI’s, I’ve talked to my manager. They dismiss me, or just huff and puff and say flat out ā€œForget it, I will do everything myself.ā€ One of my PI’s wanted to be a vet, and recently she asked me where I committed, I answered and not that I expected a ā€œcongratulationsā€ but literally anything other than the answer she gave which was ā€œI applied there three times and was accepted all three times. I was such a good candidate, I would have made such a good vet.ā€ Everything needs to turn into ā€œwoe is meā€, she starts meetings off with ā€œlucky for everyone I’m virtual today so nobody has to see my ugly face!ā€ ā€œunfortunately i’ll be in the office this week so you’ll have to see this annoying faceā€. I literally do not know how to respond ??? The level of flat out unprofessionalism from the PI is insane. I understand what I did today, just walking out without telling anyone but the other tech and the post-doc student, was unprofessional and immature of me. I own up to it. I just simply could not do any more of today.

I’m sorry I went on a little bit of a tangent here. Point is: I’ve tried. There are some good days, but most suck. I feel so guilty leaving because I don’t want to leave the other tech by herself. I was planning to leave end of June to plan for my move, but now that I think about it, I want to enjoy some of my summer. I want to travel before I leave the east coast. I want to go to my friend’s graduations and visit my cousins.

I just feel stuck.
The PI sounds snobbish and okay? If you applied 3 times and got in 3 times, why didn't you attend instead of wasting money to apply? I was in your exact shoes ~3 years ago. I decided to switch into a new field for a more diverse research experience and to see if academia was really for me. Turns out, it wasn't because of this lab. Honestly this is very normal in all fields. You are going to face some unprofessional people, have uncomfortable conversations, and extreme burn out. In these experiences, it's when to know when you need to leave. After 11 months of working as a research assistant in the lab I switched into, I knew I was not going to get anything valuable of my time. I told my postdoc off and left to do whatever I wanted. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE research, but there are going to be many places especially in academia where there are people that are not meant to lead or be mentors. Many of my colleagues in that lab stayed regardless of how many times they were berated. I, on the other hand, left and found another field to learn from. Thinking back, I wish I left earlier and gotten experience in vet med through research. You live and you learn. I currently work with a lot of PIs now, and half of them are angels while the other half are a pain. DO NOT feel guilty at all! I unfortunately left my lab bestie as well :/ Do what's best for you, life is short, live it how you want.
 
...then why isn’t she one
okay? If you applied 3 times and got in 3 times, why didn't you attend instead of wasting money to apply?
I will not spread her business on the internet, but she has shared the reasons why she did not end up attending all 3 times. They are legitimate reasons to not attend. It's just...why did you feel the need to flip it? you asked a simple question and you somehow managed to flip it A G A I N.
 
I will not spread her business on the internet, but she has shared the reasons why she did not end up attending all 3 times. They are legitimate reasons to not attend. It's just...why did you feel the need to flip it? you asked a simple question and you somehow managed to flip it A G A I N.
Just seems like a salty bish that you’re going to vet school and she never did for whatever reasons she didn’t go 🄲
 
I will not spread her business on the internet, but she has shared the reasons why she did not end up attending all 3 times. They are legitimate reasons to not attend. It's just...why did you feel the need to flip it? you asked a simple question and you somehow managed to flip it A G A I N.
They are using this as an opportunity to level the imaginary playing field. You don't care that they never went to vet school. They probably care a lot.

Imo the term 'narcissist' is the internet's new 'OCD' or 'ADD/ADHD' in the sense that it's thrown around very casually and used to describe every single person that causes you an issue. With that said, the leveling of an imaginary playfield is a pretty typical thing that narcs do, so I wonder if this person could have some narc tendencies. In their eyes, your achievement should be meaningless to everyone else because they already achieved it (three times) and they want to make sure everyone knows, or they have a litany of reasons why they didn't achieve it (and none of those reasons are their fault, always someone else's), +/- say bogus **** about how you probably took some easy way/knew someone/etc and got admitted.

Consider looking up some resources on how to deal with a narc boss, it may help you navigate those frustrating conversations. Not that there is ever an excuse for their behavior, but once you start to understand how a narc works, you get the hang of how to have a conversation with them that allows you to maintain some control over the interaction.
 
Update: went into work today as normal, did my job. My manager took a half day and then came in and emailed me ā€œWhat is wrong with you?ā€ (I think she just meant to ask ā€œwhat’s wrongā€, english isnt her first language).

I told her I would prefer to talk to her in person. Unfortunately, our schedules did not align and I ended up leaving when my shift was over. I got an email about 20 min ago asking if I left and that the only reason she came in today was because she thought I wanted to speak with her and that she is ā€œvery disappointedā€.

So I bit the bullet and just emailed her everything I was feeling. How I am frustrated and confused and upset at the situation on our lab and would appreciate to be sat down by the PI that hired me and our team to discuss what is expected of me, what our project goals are and how we will move forward.

I’m not the best with confrontation, I used to be but I’m not anymore. I feel like I made a mistake laying it all down in an email instead of speaking with her but I couldn’t just email her back and say ā€œWe will talk on Monday.ā€

I don’t want to be fired. I like the laboratory portion of my job, I like when I have guidance. I did not feel this way 4 months ago. I just want to be in the loop. I’m a member of this lab, I should know when major changes happen. Lab meetings are dedicated to talking about papers and projects for conferences but not about communication or tasks and expectations. I need clear communication.

In the email I stated I appreciated and thanked her for guidance. I feel like I made a mistake. Idk maybe I’m just anxious and overthinking everything now.
 
Current first world problem: the spouse needs a new car. Which sucks because I just got one six months ago. What sucks more is when I bought my car, I didn’t have many options. Now I feel like I bit the bullet too soon because a lot of the cars the spouse wants to look at are cars I think I would have been happy with and were cheaper than the one I bought, but they weren’t on any lots at the time.

C’est la vie. What’s done is done. I like my car well enough though the payment makes me cry a little when I look at it.
 
I seriously do not think I could stay at my current clinic till August when I leave for school. I just feel so bad leaving because someone else quit so we have literally 2 technicians/assistants including myself. The past 2 weeks and on until someone is hired I’m working doubles basically everyday and the doctor is HORRIBLE to me. He goes through times when he’s awfully degrading, saying he doesn’t want to teach me anything, i’ll be an awful doctor, I shouldn’t work with animals, etc but then goes through times when I’m so smart and amazing and he’ll miss me when I go off to school. Right now he’s in the degrading part and he’s saying to my coworkers he doesn’t want me touching any animals because when I tried to help and get blood on a cat (outdoor wiggly cat) this morning but failed the vein blew (mind you I have very little experience pulling blood on a cat he only occasionally lets me on dogs). Of course I’m upset at myself but his reactiom is that I’ll be a horrible doctor and for me to not touch any animals which makes me feel even ****tier. Worst part is Sunday i work ALONE with him - i cant even look at him now he’s being so awful. I’m not perfect either especially lately I’ve been working 60 hour weeks between my job and my side job, i’m awfully burnt out and moody but it’s only when he’s insulting me that I can’t shake off the negativity.
I feel awful quitting but I mentally cannot handle it - I wanted my gap year to prepare me for vet school and solidify my love for this profession but he also is not really a great doctor… some of his practices/techniques are awful and unsanitary and its a 1 doc practice that he owns so at the end of the day theres nobody to stop him… it it worth it to see if theres a clinic that will take me for ~4 months? Do i stick it out and wait for his bad mood to pass? Would i be ****ty for leaving the other tech/receptionists to deal w him and put in my 2 weeks like a week after someone elses last day? I mean the manager is hiring so she could hire an extra person now if i lett..
Edit: I could always quit the clinic and work full-time at the coffee shop that I’m at until I leave for school, but I would rather be gaining experience. I feel like working full-time at a cafĆ© is not going to help me down the line :/
 
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I seriously do not think I could stay at my current clinic till August when I leave for school. I just feel so bad leaving because someone else quit so we have literally 2 technicians/assistants including myself. The past 2 weeks and on until someone is hired I’m working doubles basically everyday and the doctor is HORRIBLE to me. He goes through times when he’s awfully degrading, saying he doesn’t want to teach me anything, i’ll be an awful doctor, I shouldn’t work with animals, etc but then goes through times when I’m so smart and amazing and he’ll miss me when I go off to school. Right now he’s in the degrading part and he’s saying to my coworkers he doesn’t want me touching any animals because when I tried to help and get blood on a cat (outdoor wiggly cat) this morning but failed the vein blew (mind you I have very little experience pulling blood on a cat he only occasionally lets me on dogs). Of course I’m upset at myself but his reactiom is that I’ll be a horrible doctor and for me to not touch any animals which makes me feel even ****tier. Worst part is Sunday i work ALONE with him - i cant even look at him now he’s being so awful. I’m not perfect either especially lately I’ve been working 60 hour weeks between my job and my side job, i’m awfully burnt out and moody but it’s only when he’s insulting me that I can’t shake off the negativity.
I feel awful quitting but I mentally cannot handle it - I wanted my gap year to prepare me for vet school and solidify my love for this profession but he also is not really a great doctor… some of his practices/techniques are awful and unsanitary and its a 1 doc practice that he owns so at the end of the day theres nobody to stop him… it it worth it to see if theres a clinic that will take me for ~4 months? Do i stick it out and wait for his bad mood to pass? Would i be ****ty for leaving the other tech/receptionists to deal w him and put in my 2 weeks like a week after someone elses last day? I mean the manager is hiring so she could hire an extra person now if i lett..
It is not your responsibility to shoulder the burden that others left behind if you did not create this issue yourself. This is FAFO season, and sounds like this clinic may need to FO.
 
Y'all really inspired me to quit my part time teching job today. I’ve been really done with it for a while. They wonder why we have a shortage of support staff and then consistently treat them like dirt all in the name of the bottom line. Terrible pay, skeleton crews, pressure from higher ups to bring in more money (a list of techs that bring in the least money!)
 
I feel like working full-time at a cafƩ is not going to help me down the line :/

Why not? Your getting customer service experience and teamwork experience. School teaches you the medicine; life teaches you the human stuff.

Plus you won't have the stress of this ass hat.

Leave. No one like that should be mentoring young people
 
I seriously do not think I could stay at my current clinic till August when I leave for school. I just feel so bad leaving because someone else quit so we have literally 2 technicians/assistants including myself. The past 2 weeks and on until someone is hired I’m working doubles basically everyday and the doctor is HORRIBLE to me. He goes through times when he’s awfully degrading, saying he doesn’t want to teach me anything, i’ll be an awful doctor, I shouldn’t work with animals, etc but then goes through times when I’m so smart and amazing and he’ll miss me when I go off to school. Right now he’s in the degrading part and he’s saying to my coworkers he doesn’t want me touching any animals because when I tried to help and get blood on a cat (outdoor wiggly cat) this morning but failed the vein blew (mind you I have very little experience pulling blood on a cat he only occasionally lets me on dogs). Of course I’m upset at myself but his reactiom is that I’ll be a horrible doctor and for me to not touch any animals which makes me feel even ****tier. Worst part is Sunday i work ALONE with him - i cant even look at him now he’s being so awful. I’m not perfect either especially lately I’ve been working 60 hour weeks between my job and my side job, i’m awfully burnt out and moody but it’s only when he’s insulting me that I can’t shake off the negativity.
I feel awful quitting but I mentally cannot handle it - I wanted my gap year to prepare me for vet school and solidify my love for this profession but he also is not really a great doctor… some of his practices/techniques are awful and unsanitary and its a 1 doc practice that he owns so at the end of the day theres nobody to stop him… it it worth it to see if theres a clinic that will take me for ~4 months? Do i stick it out and wait for his bad mood to pass? Would i be ****ty for leaving the other tech/receptionists to deal w him and put in my 2 weeks like a week after someone elses last day? I mean the manager is hiring so she could hire an extra person now if i lett..
Edit: I could always quit the clinic and work full-time at the coffee shop that I’m at until I leave for school, but I would rather be gaining experience. I feel like working full-time at a cafĆ© is not going to help me down the line :/
I agree with battie. I would quit. Your mental health is way more important than the experience you may get by staying.
 
. I feel like working full-time at a cafƩ is not going to help me down the line :/
Do you really feel like staying will help you down the line either though? Or have you learned what you can from this place? Understaffed jobs very rarely have time to teach much of anything, they just make you stressed and work you into the ground.
 
okay, seems like my rant is a little bit on theme here! also want to disclaim that i am preaching to the choir here.

on friday, i worked a 15 hour shift. i am scheduled for 10 hours. i am scheduled for four 10-hour shifts in a row and i simply never leave on time. i know that this is common in our field, and, hey, most jobs before this one would totally screw me over and cut me so i couldn’t get overtime, but i am at least getting overtime pay. i don’t even feel that bad when i am at work but i spend my whole weekends in a state of dread about coming back to work.

the crazy thing is this is sort of my very best opportunity for work right now. they pay me better than anywhere else around me would (which is still not enough to afford to live on my own but i digress). it is a specialty hospital and i get to work in specialty surgery, i definitely would not get the opportunity to do that anywhere else remotely close to me. so, i don’t want to leave but also i worked in surgery before this and like it just doesn’t need to be this way? we are incredibly short staffed as well and on friday it was 3 people running 6 cases, and it doesn’t help that the surgeon is just totally snapping at you all day. lmao a very surgeon thing to do. i clean everything. 6 surgeries worth of cleaning on your own across 15 hours will literally make you go crazy, and you’re racing to do so before they roll in the next patient. i don’t mind cleaning, i will never be above it even when i am a doctor. but, i have come from places where it is a shared labor and my problem is im not even interacting with patients in hardly any capacity because i am too busy busting my ass. im not even mad at my supervisor for this because we are spread so thin that this is sort of how it has to be until they can hire more people. i don’t have the same capabilities when it comes to monitoring anesthesia so i *have* to be the one to do the dirty work. i want to learn better nursing skills and i just can’t because there’s not enough people. i’m just unhappy and because i didn’t get in this cycle, i feel like i don’t have a way out. i could go for working at a GP but i don’t think it’s the answer. i think things have the potential to get better but right now i am so exhausted. again, i know long hours and overtime is something guaranteed for my future but this is all so senseless.
 
so moral of the story, let's all quit and start a camp for overworked pre-vets/vets where we paint, journal, share our feelings and go swimming in a lake.
And advocate for title protection of credentialed staff along with better pay and utilization and working hours for those who have chosen to be a veterinary paraprofessional as a career.
 
And advocate for title protection of credentialed staff along with better pay and utilization and working hours for those who have chosen to be a veterinary paraprofessional as a career.
oh heavy on this one!!! yes yes!!
 
And advocate for title protection of credentialed staff along with better pay and utilization and working hours for those who have chosen to be a veterinary paraprofessional as a career.
ā£ļøā£ļøā£ļø
 
Update: my clinic let me go this morning. The office manager said she can tell i’ve been miserable and it would be better for me and everyone if I find a place that suits me more. Not going to lie, I agree and i mean great for my mental health but now i’m down an income source šŸ™ƒ. I was preparing my 2 weeks when they hired someone but I guess they did that for me haha. The office manager said she would still write me a reference letter so at least i’m not totally screwed i suppose i’ll start putting out my resume and work my customer service job till something comes upšŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø
 
Update: my clinic let me go this morning. The office manager said she can tell i’ve been miserable and it would be better for me and everyone if I find a place that suits me more. Not going to lie, I agree and i mean great for my mental health but now i’m down an income source šŸ™ƒ. I was preparing my 2 weeks when they hired someone but I guess they did that for me haha. The office manager said she would still write me a reference letter so at least i’m not totally screwed i suppose i’ll start putting out my resume and work my customer service job till something comes upšŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø
Ayyyy now you can collect unemployment at least vs quitting šŸ˜‚
Sending hugsšŸ’œ getting let go is never fun, but often is for the best.
 
Ayyyy now you can collect unemployment at least vs quitting šŸ˜‚
Sending hugsšŸ’œ getting let go is never fun, but often is for the best.
I ran on here to say this about unemployment. After reading just this page...sending tons of hugs to all of you guys you all deserve so much better than the treatment yall have received
 
Update: my clinic let me go this morning. The office manager said she can tell i’ve been miserable and it would be better for me and everyone if I find a place that suits me more. Not going to lie, I agree and i mean great for my mental health but now i’m down an income source šŸ™ƒ. I was preparing my 2 weeks when they hired someone but I guess they did that for me haha. The office manager said she would still write me a reference letter so at least i’m not totally screwed i suppose i’ll start putting out my resume and work my customer service job till something comes upšŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø
sending you support!! i honestly would have planned to just do a barista job until school, if i were to have gotten in. something with flexible hours, low stress. that way you can enjoy your time before the madness of vet school! wishing you the best luck!
 
Update: my clinic let me go this morning. The office manager said she can tell i’ve been miserable and it would be better for me and everyone if I find a place that suits me more. Not going to lie, I agree and i mean great for my mental health but now i’m down an income source šŸ™ƒ. I was preparing my 2 weeks when they hired someone but I guess they did that for me haha. The office manager said she would still write me a reference letter so at least i’m not totally screwed i suppose i’ll start putting out my resume and work my customer service job till something comes upšŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø
I was going to jump on here the other day and comment that maybe, just maybe that wasn't the best place for you. Plus, were you really learning anything if the veterinarian was so inconsistent in the way he was treating you? Especially if he is going to be crappy to you. You don't need that, especially right before starting veterinary school. You don't need someone in your head telling you all those negative things that simply, are not true.

I know it probably hurts now to be let go, but I think you will be happier and more prepared to tackle vet school than if you had stuck around. You don't want to enter veterinary school already burned out.

I hope you can find a little something before you head out, but, even if you don't, don't take for granted the customer service job. A LOT of being a veterinarian is learning how to talk to, communicate with and build trust/rapport with other people. And not so much about drawing blood on cats, I can't even recall the last time I ever drew blood on a cat, has been many, many, many years. I would probably suck at it.
 
We have hot water everywhere in our apartment EXCEPT the shower, so they’re not treating it as urgent. This started Saturday and we likely aren’t getting anyone out here until at least Friday. I got a solid 5 minutes of warm water before it turned cold and this was my post anatomy lab shower. Currently cursing whatever cosmic beings will listen.
 
I just spent like 20 minutes trying to find a thread that I posted like, over 15 years ago, about being really unhappy at the clinic I worked at and the kind of abuses I used to get on a daily basis. I think I gave up (lord jesus I used to post a lot and so it's a lot of content to try and sort through, and I don't remember the name of the thread) but I think it helps to illuminate how this crap happens all the time to everyone. Unfortunately, it continues to happen after you graduate and become a vet. It's hard to find a good place sometimes, but when you do - it's good. Never feel bad about looking for something better.

I did find some PMs about the clinic and I honestly had forgotten some of the things. But hey, they autoclaved syringes, needles, and surgery gloves, so - you know, in hindsight, I could have just taken the whoooole thing as a bunch of 'what not to do as a vet' examples. And here I am getting criticized for my phone voice. Lol.

I also realize I used to type like a smart person and now I just sort of spew words into a post with the occasional lol peppered in like a true millennial.
 
I just spent like 20 minutes trying to find a thread that I posted like, over 15 years ago, about being really unhappy at the clinic I worked at and the kind of abuses I used to get on a daily basis. I think I gave up (lord jesus I used to post a lot and so it's a lot of content to try and sort through, and I don't remember the name of the thread) but I think it helps to illuminate how this crap happens all the time to everyone. Unfortunately, it continues to happen after you graduate and become a vet. It's hard to find a good place sometimes, but when you do - it's good. Never feel bad about looking for something better.

I did find some PMs about the clinic and I honestly had forgotten some of the things. But hey, they autoclaved syringes, needles, and surgery gloves, so - you know, in hindsight, I could have just taken the whoooole thing as a bunch of 'what not to do as a vet' examples. And here I am getting criticized for my phone voice. Lol.

I also realize I used to type like a smart person and now I just sort of spew words into a post with the occasional lol peppered in like a true millennial.
wait did they autoclave syringes/needles for reuse?
 
wait did they autoclave syringes/needles for reuse?
There was a hospital in my undergrad town that did this. The vet/owner also didn’t believe animals could feel pain and didn’t use analgesia.

Edit: I should add this hospital has been closed and this guy lost his license
 
I just spent like 20 minutes trying to find a thread that I posted like, over 15 years ago, about being really unhappy at the clinic I worked at and the kind of abuses I used to get on a daily basis. I think I gave up (lord jesus I used to post a lot and so it's a lot of content to try and sort through, and I don't remember the name of the thread) but I think it helps to illuminate how this crap happens all the time to everyone. Unfortunately, it continues to happen after you graduate and become a vet. It's hard to find a good place sometimes, but when you do - it's good. Never feel bad about looking for something better.

I did find some PMs about the clinic and I honestly had forgotten some of the things. But hey, they autoclaved syringes, needles, and surgery gloves, so - you know, in hindsight, I could have just taken the whoooole thing as a bunch of 'what not to do as a vet' examples. And here I am getting criticized for my phone voice. Lol.
I think I have some very old threads about my pre-vet sh*tshow of a clinic too. That vet used to throw things at people, scream (and I mean scream) at us, and so on. After screaming horrible things at us all day, she would then ask if anyone wanted to go grab dinner with her, like nothing ever happened. She physically abused patients too. Plus, knowing what I know now, she consistently failed to provide any minimal standard of care. Really sketchy stuff.

Could also tell you a few stories from two different clinics about what the vets were having us do to cut costs...

Edit: I guess my point was that we all have a story unfortunately. Hopefully as these vets age out, we will start to hear fewer and fewer. Younger vets are capable of treating people poorly too, but it seems to be way less common.

Nothing sucks more than trying to lose the weight you gained during vet school from stress.

40 pounds gained and I’m so over feeling like crap because of it. I want to be skinny again 😭
I was not 'skinny' when I started vet school (honestly haven't been skinny since I was 6 years old) but the weight gain is real.

And the aging. Don't ever look at your 1st year pictures again unless you're looking to be humbled.
 
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Certainly nothing to this degree, but the small town GP I shadowed at, the owner told me I would never get into vet school because *checks hand* I have a nose piercing. Her rules were: no piercings other than lobes (unless she deemed them "tasteful"), no rings other than engagement rings/wedding bands, natural colored hair only (again, unless she deemed it "tasteful"). I offered to put a less obvious piercing in my nose while I was there in an attempt to respect her clinic, and she told me I wasn't employed by her so it was fine, but to know that "no clinic will hire you if they know you have that". Despite sounding archaic, this was 2019.

Idk, I have lost weight. 20-ish pounds in the last year (I was 195 last year at accepted students' day, so this isn't a scary amount). Some of it was conscious changes (my spouse is putting effort into a higher protein diet and getting us moving more), some of it was I'm an emotional eater with a lot of food noise, and I'm so busy I simply don't have time to eat outside of my standard meals. Not meant to be a brag, more an observation.
 
Idk, I have lost weight. 20-ish pounds in the last year (I was 195 last year at accepted students' day, so this isn't a scary amount). Some of it was conscious changes (my spouse is putting effort into a higher protein diet and getting us moving more), some of it was I'm an emotional eater with a lot of food noise, and I'm so busy I simply don't have time to eat outside of my standard meals. Not meant to be a brag, more an observation.
It's funny you say this because when I was working ER, I would literally starve/dehydrate all day because I was so slammed that I was lucky if I could leave the floor to hit the bathroom. Basically I would eat breakfast, fast against my will for ~16 hours while getting around 6-8 miles worth of steps each shift, and then because my next shift would be in 8 hours (and I had a ~40min drive home, plus say another 45min-hour before my head is actually hitting the pillow) I would hit Taco Bell on the way home simply because driving while eating was the most efficient way to get something in me. And that was for 3-4 shifts/week, maybe 1000cal total (plus breakfast which was probably 500 or so?). And that earned me me like 45lb despite all of the energy I was expending each shift.

PCOS, man. :bang: Honestly the only thing that has had me lose significant weight was going low carb or fully keto. It's just really hard to maintain that for obvious reasons.
 
Nothing sucks more than trying to lose the weight you gained during vet school from stress.

40 pounds gained and I’m so over feeling like crap because of it. I want to be skinny again 😭
I gained 20 pounds the first year of vet school (I was extremely skinny and fit). Stress does crazy things to the body. I’ve gotten back to the gym recently and it’s really helped my health and mental state though.
 
I applied to a summer program at my in state school that required two letters of recommendations and I thought it was taken care of but I just received an email from the director that one is missing.
I was already stressing bc the deadline was March 7th and one of my evaluators submitted at the very last minute but I completely forgot about the other one. I assumed she had done it bc I was in contact with her, saw her in person multiple times in between, and now I find out she didn’t do it.
So I texted her at 11am, she apologizes saying she forgot and she’d send it after her work, so I ask if she can text me when she does so I can let the coordinator know.
Currently 9pm and she still hasn’t texted. I tried to send another text to nudge but no response. I’m lucky enough the coordinator didn’t outright reject my application because they don’t have both letters and it’s March 27th.
I’m super disappointed because this person was my supervisor for years and we were really close so I thought I could trust her to do this

Update: well now I feel bad. She couldn’t send it last night bc her kid got into an accident and she’ll do it as soon as she gets back from the hospital. I’m just hoping all of this doesn’t ruin my chances since it’s so far past the deadline. I’ve sent the coordinator an update that she should get it today so fingers crossed.
 
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I gasped. that is insane. i used to have to reuse drape to wrap surgery packs that was very clearly one-time, disposable use only (literally paper) and THAT pissed me off.
also part of the re-using drape club. we would autoclave it and reuse it until it became discolored and or too soiled.
 
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