Playoffs + Snow Days = Long Hours and Stress.

Well, it’s play offs time and what does that mean? We’re swamped here with new games and reschedules. It’s hard to keep it all straight and make sure that everyone has the right information. Who needs to bring ice? Who needs to bring an AED? Which rink this time? “Can you be there 12 minutes earlier?” “Can you check in with this patient?” These questions keep me up at night this time of year. With Meghan, one of our Precision AT employees, on top of confirmations, contracts and calendaring, our scheduling is the most accurate it’s ever been. However, it’s still difficult to keep up with everything when on top of last minute playoff games, we’re covering rescheduled make up games for snow days. And then the make up for that snowed out make up. A few days ago, not one, but two ADs emailed me schedule changes only to contact me minutes later taking the changes back. I also got a bunch of emails and calls like, “Hey Mara, we might need you guys for a make-up game on Saturday night. It’s going to be either at 3pm or 7pm and either in Haverhill or Stoneham. Can you make that happen?” Ummmmm maybe? So this is my life this time of year. If this sounds confusing, multiply it by 30 and this is what we do all day. (Honestly… we sort of like it and take pride when we figure it all out and get everyone covered!)

When I was an employed AT, I LOVED SNOWDAYS! It was like being a kid again; watching the school cancellations on the news and celebrating when my school came up. Whoopee! Where are my snow pants!Sadly, my feelings towards snow-days have taken a 180 since starting Precision AT. While our salaried employees still get the relaxing paid days off, the contractors usually don’t get these benefits. This means that snow-days = a loss for us when games are not rescheduled. Snow-days stink for the self-employed AT. They hurt our backs and our wallets but, there’s nothing we can do. Worse, I work from home so there’s no excuse for me to take a snow day. Going back to sleep is just not an option. The best bet for me is to grab a nice comforting cup of hot chocolate, head down to my office and wait for the cancellations, playoff games and reschedules to roll in.