Marking attendance

Some days back, I started hearing some funny noises from my car bonnet, took it to the mechanic and found out my alternator was bad. It cost me $132 to get a new one and $60 to install it.

tuns486:


Awesome!. Congrats Bro

Thanks bro

BlowJobs:


Did you have to write any test? TEAS test?. I have a friend in Ohio trying to get into Nursing

Uh, no test whatsoever bro. I applied as a transfer student. I still have to contact the nursing body though to get the specifics, like requirements, the level I would start and if I'd take placement test etc. The $50 was to "secure my seat"

Mumsy bin dey vex major and said she wouldn't pay it.

We ended up giving them a call, when they found out the issue was from their end, they canceled all the fees. ALL!

At this point, I've worked at the new job for quit3 sometime now and I'm beginning to understand my co-workers, beginning to gravitate towards those who want to do something with their lives and stay away from those whose sole aim in life is to talk about other people.

The good thing about this place is nigerians full this facility, so they are always looking out for me

BlowJobs:


EZPASS?

Yeah?

Yeah bro.

Remember when I told you guys about the unavoidability of bills and fines, here's some gist

There's something we call Ipass, it's a device you put on your car dashboard which enables you to automatically pay your toll fees without stopping your car on the expressway. For each time you pass a toll booth, it's recorded on their system, then at the end of the month, the fee is deducted from your bank account. My mum has one in her car but didn't know it was faulty. So, she had been driving past the toll booths without paying the fees, some days back, we recieved this in the mail

Observe the toll fees itself, and the penalties attached

I've got some great news, my transcript has been evaluated, I applied to Chicago state university to study BSN nursing and got accepted. I paid the "acceptance fee" of $50 yesterday and I'm revving my engines, ready to go! Ready to explore a whole new world within the 4 walls of the university.

At burger king, the issue I had when I started the job was communication. At this job, drama. Lemme explain.


If you notice, if you've paid close attention to my posts, I always tried to pick people's brains, to understand what makes them tick, to understand the mindset of the people I'd be working with, the mindset of Americans. In trying to do that, I try to strike up conversations with different people, dancing around different topics trying to get you to speak. In the first few weeks I started this job, I noticed this is a female dominated field and most of the persons whose brains I tried to pick were ladies. In no time, news had started flying around that the new guy is a flirt, he's always talking to everybody. It turns out these ladies mistook my questions and conversations for something else, they actually thought I was trying to hook up with them.

Each day I come to work, I'd hear one new gist about me and what I supposedly did. I wouldn't bore you guys with the sad tales of how these people think cos most of them are way too shallow to delve into deep conversations with. They are more content with running their mouths about celebrity news and who-is-fvcking-who at the job. The few times I've tried to bring politics or current affairs or something other than tv shows and drama and superficial stuff, I get a blank stare or something close to it. With time, I minimized my conversations to strictly work related stuff and started keeping to myself. My "brain-picking" project has been put on hold for now.

Update coming guys. Be patient

Happy valentine

lyrondee:
Sup Franky....
.
Abeg i heard nursing students are not allowed to work while studying due to workload....
.
Biko how TRUE?

Na lie

I dey come, make i go clean some people yansh

The CNA job is the "starter" pack for nigerians that enter USA. I have relatives who had been telling me I was wasting my time at Burger king, only when I got my first CNA job pay check did I understand what they meant. With my first paycheck, I put my car in order. I got new tires $400 with the option of replacing them if anything goes bad (at a place called discount tire co) and a new car battery $150 (At a place called autozone) and I was left with some change, I then handled some bills around the house.

Like i said, the CNA is the person closest to the patient. You're responsible for the little jobs they can't do for themselves (we call them Activities of daily living-ADLs). These include, but are not limited to: wiping their yansh when they _shit finish, brushing their teeth, getting clothes for them etc etc. Mostly stuff you could do by yourself if you are a normal person.

The CNA licensing program lasts for 4-6 weeks after which you'll take a state exam, if/when you pass, your name would be included in the state registry, prospective employers can look up your name and record online on the state registry. As a CNA, you get paid roughly $12 - $18 an hr (depending on your experience in the job).

I should add, in order to work in the healthcare system here, you need to have a clean background (no crime record).


Back to my introduction, the job can be quite messy, but when you look at the paycheck, you'll understand why there are lots of nigerians in the healthcare industry.

First picture, burger king pay check (one week wages)
Second picture, CNA job pay check (two weeks wages)

Chukason1:



How person go to school finish come dey park shit

Calm down. Make I yarn finish.

For you to fully understand this next aspect of my story, of my new job as a CNA, I would need to break it down, I would need to make you guys understand the healthcare system in the USA.

See, there is a reason the USA is a first world country. They didn't get here by fluke, (neither by praying and messing around and watching big brother nigeria). In Nigeria, the typical healthcare team consists of Doctors and Nurses (auxillary nurses and bachelor's degree nurses). In the USA, it's much more different, we have Doctors (different specialties), Nurses (Nursing practitioners, Bsc Nurses, associate degree nurses, Licensed practical nurses) And Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) And then we have other people called social workers, physical therapists etc etc. Everybody works as a team, with emphasis on delivering the best care possible to the patient.


The "lowliest" job is the CNA job, as a CNA, you're the person closest to the patient. Both physically and observationally. You are responsible for also making observations to recent changes in the patient (how much did they eat, how much did they _shit, did they urinate enough today?)
I'm sure you must have heard of the people that pack _shit in the USA. Na the job be this. The beauty of the healthcare system here is the ability to climb the "ladder" easily. From being a lowly CNA, you can move up to being a registered nurse in no time.

For some reason, I feel my recent posts seem too hurried and rushed.

Permit me some time to organize my posts, I haven't abandoned the thread. I'm just trying my best to juggle different aspects of my life (as Franknetter and as Obinna).

This thread is far from being over. Just be patient with me. Please.

The next day, I drove to the place my sister bought her car battery and laid a complaint, they gave me a brand new car battery, no questions asked.


______________________________________________


Someome once said "Life is like a bicycle, in order to keep your balance, you have to keep moving"

I quit my burger king job, but I was actively searching for another job and i was invited for an interview at a nursing home in Chicago. My relative is a nurse practitioner there, so he assured me he'll pull a lot of strings to make sure I get hired.

After what seemed like an eternity, a police car pulled into the gas station and approached my car. I explained what the problem was, he sympathized with me and said I should go into the gas station and keep warm while he heads down to the office to get help. He later came back with a jumper pack and helped kick start my car. I was so grateful, I even asked for a picture. He obliged

As I drove home, I kept thinking of how much naija police man for collect for my hand

Once again, I was stuck, I walkrd into the gas station and asked the attendant if he had jumper cables. He affirmed that but said he wouldn't lend it to me, that I had to buy it. I pleaded with the attendant, paddy no gree o. He started speaking Spanish and pretending he was on the phone.

I had to go sit in my car and wait and think about what I'd do. Called mumsy, but she had gone to work, so she didn't even pick up. I contemplated running to my house to get my jumper cables but it was too damn cold and I'd freeze to death before I even get home.

The only option I had was to call the police and that's what I did. The operator took my name, number, car description and location and asked me to wait, that they are sending a squad car to come help me out.

It was 12:10 am and the temperature was dropping really fast.

So. Like I stated in my last post, my tires were pretty bad so I opted to driving my sister's vehicle. After like two to three days without driving my car, I decided to warm it up a little as it had been sitting in the cold for so long. I put the keys in the ignition, the motor no gree start. I decided to jump start the battery using my sister's car battery.

I drove to a place called autozone, bought jumper cables for like $23, drove back home, connected the dead battery to my sister's car battery and tried to start the car. Motor no gree start. It turns out I did a wrong connection and killed my sister's car battery.

So I drove my mum's car (the highlander) out of the garage and jump-started both car batteries using her car. I left both cars running, so the alternator could charge the batteries a little. Returned my mum's car and went to prepare for work.

I drove to my new job for my orientation (post about my new job coming up). It was a floor orientation and was scheduled to hold from 3pm - 11pm with a 30 minute break.


During my 30 minute break, I decided to step out and buy some food. I got into my car and tried to start it, e no gree start. So, here I was, 8:30 pm, the weather was freezing (-2 degrees) in Chicago and my car won't start.


I went back inside and through out the orientation, I kept thinking of what to do when it would be time for me to go home. At around 10:00pm, I took an excuse and went to try to start the car, no response.

When it was time to leave, I had to ask someone for help, luckily, the security guy had a pair of jumper cables. He helped me get the car started, and I started driving home.

Somewhere around my house, I stopped to get gas and totally forgot I was not supposed to turn off the car.

Update..

lionlee216:
Eeya. I'm sure you will miss them as well. How's your admission at chicago state university? It just 5 mins drive from my house. Maybe we can hook up one day and buy chipotle for your fan

No news yet. Still waiting on Wes to finish with the evaluation. For now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The haters are here

You claim to not give a fvck about this thread, but you sneak in for a peek when you think no one is looking. Change o. Na new year be this

Here's a picture of myself. Don't mind their dirty mirror

Well, turns out no car was coming at that point in time, so I slowly regained control of my vehicle, after it had skid for some minutes.

That taught me a lesson, I had to reduce my speed and increase my braking distance. I further lost control of my vehicle twice. A trip that normally takes me 10 minutes took me about 45 minutes. On my way back, they had ploughed the road a little, (pictures below) I figured all I had to do was stay on the dark part of the road, once my tire touches the white part (ice) I knew I'd lose control of my vehicle, so I just drove very carefully and was grateful to not have gotten into an accident. After that day, I jejely parked my car one side until I get new tires. For now, I'm driving my sister's Hyundai Sonata which has brand new tires. She's not around, she went to Naija for the winter holidays.

Tuesday that week was supposed to be my last day at BurgerKing. On monday, I got a call from the manager, I almost did not want to pick the phone but I did. She called to wish me well in my future endeavors, telling me how sad she was that I quit the job, talking about she has been losing her good workers and she didn't know why. That if I ever need a job, I would always be welcome at burgerKing. I smiled and thanked her for the opportunity, that for the fact that this was my very first job in the USA, it would always hold sentimental value to me. She thanked me once more and hung up.

On Tuesday, I put on my burgerking work clothes (for the last time) and went to work. Word had filtered around that I was quitting, those that worked that last shift with me couldn't hide the fact that they would miss me. I mirrored their wishes and sentiments, the gay dude that was being stvpid the other day came to apologize, I ignored the kid. When I was about clocking out for the last time, they did something silly, they brought out a cheesecake and were looking for candle to put on it and sing for me, sh*t was funny sha.
in general, I would say I learnt a lot at BurgerKing, if not for anything, I gained some insight on how rough "the streets" are. Some people have it rough sha. But that's a story for another day.

Good bye, BK.

Lemme throw in a little suspense here

Spoiler: No, I didn't die.

Some days back, I got a feel of why I need to get winter tires. See, like I said some time ago, my car gets me from point A to B and is warms up really fast when you drive. So, most times, I don’t have to start it up some minutes before I leave the house, I just jump in and start driving. At the back of my mind, I knew I needed some new tires though, the thread of the ones currently on my car were currently thin and had failed the coin test. The more threads you’ve got on your tires, the more gripping power you have and the shorter the braking distance. (read: http://www.tireamerica.com/research/the-penny-tire-test)



Sunday, last week, I had to drop my sister at church, and head to work;. Over the previous days, it hadn’t been snowing that much so I figured I would be fine driving my car even with my “bad” tires. I woke up that morning and looked outside, it had snowed the night before. When it snows, the roads become caked up with snow and become very slippery. You have to drive way below the speed limit so as not to lose control of your car. You accelerate really slow, you decelerate even slower, cos the tendency for you to lose control of your vehicle increases when you’re driving on ice, your car is in motion and you slam on your brakes suddenly. On a normal day, when it snows at night, the snow-ploughing emergency services department kicks in. Before 6:00am, special trucks carrying ice-melting salt would already be on the roads followed closely by trucks with big “shovels” in front to plough the snow from the road so as to make them motorable.

For some reason that day, they hadn't ploughed the roads. Ice and snow were on the roads, perfect recipe for disaster.
I got into my car along with my sister and started driving, on getting to a red light at the end of the road, I misjudged my braking distance and slammed my brakes on too suddenly. I lost control of my car.

HAPPY NEW YEAR GUYS

Speaking of Christmas parties, one was organized at my work place (BurgerKing). They called it a potluck which means everyone should bring a dish.. I had been contemplating giving them a taste of real nigerian food but I decided against it plus the expenses would be much.

Date was fixed for the 20th, 5:00 pm. Venue was the store basement. Luckily, I was scheduled to work that day, so I came into the store and helped prep the venue. Crew members came with a wide range of food items, mach and cheese, hotdogs, rice, cakes and all what not.

This was someone's attempt at making jollof rice

PDPGuy:
On the 25th, a fellow Church member and friend hosted us to a Xmas party. Then yesterday, we hosted others. Was happy that friends and family turned up.

You no even invite me. na wah for you o