Feb. 19, 2003 ~ Changes
This morning Susan and I walked and talked, and she told me news I didn't want to believe. Though she has taken care of some of our calves in emergencies, Susan is a small animal vet. She generally doesn't deal with cows and horses. When our larger babies are sick, we call on our other favorite vets. They are stable and dependable, and we know we can always count on them to come when we call, day or night. But Susan told me that they have sold their practice. I hoped she was joking, but she wasn't. With an eye to future retirement, the guys had put the clinic on the market. Seems that it takes an average of eight years to sell a veterinary practice, but it unexpectedly sold within a year. So their retirement is coming a bit earlier than they had planned.
I'm expecting a call back from one of the guys today -- we have a small horse problem. He will probably know just what to do. Sugar, our older mare, has digestion issues. Needs a little help, I think. I asked Susan if she had any suggestions, but as this is not her area of expertise, she said she would need to do some research. I didn't want her to have to do that, so told her I would check at the other clinic, that they might have just the product we need right there.
The office manager (at the guys' clinic) is upbeat about the whole thing. She says that change is inevitable and we have to be open to it. Right. But I don't have to LIKE it, do I? Oh, I'm sure I'll get used to the new situation. And maybe I'll even like the new vets. It's just going to take a while to build that same level of trust that we felt toward the tried and true. A few years back our OTHER beloved horse vet sold his clinic, and I was bereft. I think I actually grieved over his leaving. But I came to accept these new guys, who are now the old, soon-to-be-gone guys. And I'm sure, or I hope, that we will learn to feel good about what's happening. I mean, since it's going to happen anyway, we might as well like it.
But, right now, this is hard.
Speaking of change, a lot has changed for Husband this past year. The company where he had worked for over twenty years... was sold. The name changed, some policies changed; they kept most of the employees on. But the new owners weren't accustomed to doing business in our area, and some of their big city ideas haven't worked out as well as they had hoped. So they are cutting expenses, and there have already been two rounds of layoffs. Things are tense, very tense, at work. In the past, Husband got a fair amount of overtime during the week, and had to work some weekends. Now it seems that he's getting 8 hours a day during the week, and having to work just about every weekend. This is hard in many ways. He's pulled is so many different directions. His mother's health is poor, and he tries to go visit her as often as possible. She lives in another state. There are things here at the farm that only he can do. They often do not get done. You have to have your priorities straight. The farm work isn't going anywhere, but his mother won't be here forever. I wonder what would happen if Husband got laid off? We have very little in savings, and every time we seem to get ahead, some big, major expense comes up and we wind up further and further in debt. Well, I'm sure we will manage somehow. We always do.
No word from Soldier Boy in recent days, but I'm sure he's fine. Oh, how I hate to hear the evening news on TV! Talk of war, bad war; war with nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. Whatever my opinions about war in general, I specifically do not want harm to come to my child.
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