I want to apologize. I have been meaning to do an update, but things happened. Not only have I been getting used to working again, I have had some surprising events happen on top of everything.

Since my last update, I have slowly been transited to going full-time. I'm not quite there yet, however, the salon I work at will be extending hours for the summer and I get to work more.

Training went great. I've gotten so many compliments from the hair stylist that I reception for. On Monday, I actually impressed my boss more by having a 2 hour and 16 minute phone call about suggestions I've had to make things run smoother/more efficient. She told me she was blown away.

Hopefully, I will be getting that pay raise soon. And I feel so much better than I have in years. My mental health has been doing better now that I'm back to work. Plus, even though my position isn't as demanding (physically and mentally due to working with kids) as my job at the daycare. I feel like I'm actually listened to now than I was back then.

We actually have a salon staff meeting on Monday. Which is the first since the salon was founded six years ago.

The only things that I dislike about my job are the parents can be hard to deal with at times, the stylists are too unpredictable with how they do things, and there is one stylist who is the worst employee and very unprofessional.

Rant time for this stylist. She acts like she's never had a job before, her hours are unpredictable, she wants more hours, she complains too much about working at work, she's consistently on the phone (we have a all phones call should stay in the break room rule that she ignores), she runs over her appointment times, she doesn't clean up after herself, she brought her dog into the salon one day (everyone hated that), and she has brought her annoying kids in several times.

She's friends with the owner and they've known each other since cosmetology school. Recently, everyone has been correcting her about her behavior. Today (I wasn't in the salon but I heard it happened), she took a phone call in the lobby in front of the owner, and when our boss told her to take it in the break room she burst into tears. This co-worker even said "maybe I shouldn't be working here."

She has been working at this salon for six years, the only reason she's still around is because the owner doesn't want to ruin their friendship. It's going to end with the stylist quitting then realizing later that she needs to work and will try to come back or the owner finally putting her foot down and firing her.

It's not ideal, however, this stylist hasn't changed her behavior in the four years my sister has been working there. It comes to a point where the owner needs to make a choice between business and personal connections.

I'm okay with the stylist as a person, but if she were working anywhere else, she would have been fired years ago.

So we shall see how things progress. I don't want their friendship to get tainted, I personally don't want the drama that she brings to the salon. And she brings a lot to the salon. With her getting upset that a rule was being enforced by the owner is not a good sign that she is professional. My sister described it as her having a mental breakdown. I don't believe she was lying because I can see it happening.

The stylist was very quiet for the rest of her shift which is very unlike her.

Anyway, that's my job update/rant. Onto a few other things.

I have written some since my last update. Nothing too big. I was planning on taking this past weekend to really write. As you can see, that didn't happen.

On Friday morning, I was getting ready for work and I noticed my dog outside had something in his mouth. I immediately knew what it was. I was feeling so frustrated as this was the third time it had happened. I go out to the backyard and it was worse than I thought. Grey had injured a raccoon.

I got Grey away from the raccoon, and checking to see how bad it was as it crawled away. Grey had broke her right back leg and cut her left back leg. I had thirty to forty minutes before I had to leave for work. That was the start to a very heartbreaking story.

I realized she was a juvenile (which means she wasn't a baby anymore, but not an adult yet), which would explain her injuries as Grey's two previous raccoon encounters never ended with injury. Those two previous raccoons were both adults, this one was a child.

I ended up having to call several places on my the drive to work to see there was anyone who could help her. She was young and deserved a second chance. I hit dead end after dead end. No one could help this raccoon. No one.

I ended up cornering her in our shed, gave her some food and water, tried looking over her injuries (she was scared and nervous, she growled a little but didn't attack me), and figured out she was a female.

I made a shelter for her to stay overnight as it was late (since I got home later in the evening after work) and it was starting to rain. That night I went to bed worried for her. I accidentally named her Peps short for Pepper.

I knew there was a chance that she wouldn't make it. I just wanted to exhaust all of my options first.

Saturday morning, I ended up using a shovel to push her into an old cat carrier. It took about an hour, but I did it. After that I called an animal clinic that I thought helped rehabilitate raccoons, turns out they don't anymore. I tried calling more places until I was calling people who lived on the other side of the state.

No one could help me. I spent twelve hours trying to save Peps. I ended up having to call my parents (who were two hours away for the weekend) to let them know that there wasn't anything I could do.

My dad called a family friend and I took Peps to their house. The family friend ended up shooting her. It was a mercy killing. No one could her, I don't have the means to care for a raccoon, and she would have just suffered a painful death in the wild.

When I dropped her off, I didn't stay. I had to drive home and I was already shaking.

I really wish that there was a rehabilitation center near me that helps raccoons, especially a juvenile like Peps.

That all happened between 8:20 AM on Friday and 9:00 PM on Saturday. The worst part? I got a call at noon on Sunday from one of the places I had called and she asked me if I still had the raccoon. I almost broke down in tears. I haven't told my family that because I want to forget everything that happened, but at the same time, I never want to forget the raccoon that I named Peps and the semi-bond that formed between us.

Point is, I had a busy weekend.

The conclusion to it was a going away dinner for my brother and his wife. They're moving to a different state as he's moving to a different job.

I think that's all for tonight. I'm a mess and I have work tomorrow. It isn't too bad, I'm working from 2-8PM and it's only 10:30PM. I still should get some sleep.

I'll attach a picture of Peps here for you.

Thanks for reading. I apologize again for the lack of writing, just when I get my life on track, this situation with Peps happens.

Until next time,

Later.

~MsPenguingirl1234.

Published: April 13, 2022.