Ring. Ring.
I wouldn't say it's the least enjoyable aspect of my job but it definitely the most stress inducing. I'm talking about the on call phone. The little guy I'm forced to carry around as if it's my own child. I can't let him out of my sight. If he's not attached to my side, he better be within range of my eye sight so that when he rings, I'm ready. Maybe I should name him. Any suggestions?
The way our on call rotation works, 11 of us divide up the calendar so that someone always has the phone 24/7/365. Doesn't matter whether it's a random Wednesday or Christmas Day, someone always has him in the event an issue arises with any one of our over 3,500 residential students. I like our rotation system. You pick him up on a Friday and keep him for a week. You get the weekend over on the front end and pray for a slow/quiet week. Because there are so many of us, you're only on call about two weeks a semester, five weeks a year which is definitely doable.
The only downside to being on call is that you essentially cannot make a single plan during that week (like having a baby) as you never know when the phone will ring and need your attention. I don't let it stop me from going to the gym, running errands, and meeting up with friends for dinner but I refuse to see movies. It's my one rule. Because there's nothing worse than being in a movie and halfway through the phone rings and you have to leave. No thanks.
So far, for the third week of being on call, it's been pretty quiet! Praise baby J! Friday night was eventful with a handful of issues but other than that, it's been smooth sailing! I'm halfway through and hoping to finish out strong without being woken up in the middle of the night by the shrill sounds of the little tyke.
Here's hoping...
Cheers!
The way our on call rotation works, 11 of us divide up the calendar so that someone always has the phone 24/7/365. Doesn't matter whether it's a random Wednesday or Christmas Day, someone always has him in the event an issue arises with any one of our over 3,500 residential students. I like our rotation system. You pick him up on a Friday and keep him for a week. You get the weekend over on the front end and pray for a slow/quiet week. Because there are so many of us, you're only on call about two weeks a semester, five weeks a year which is definitely doable.
The only downside to being on call is that you essentially cannot make a single plan during that week (like having a baby) as you never know when the phone will ring and need your attention. I don't let it stop me from going to the gym, running errands, and meeting up with friends for dinner but I refuse to see movies. It's my one rule. Because there's nothing worse than being in a movie and halfway through the phone rings and you have to leave. No thanks.
So far, for the third week of being on call, it's been pretty quiet! Praise baby J! Friday night was eventful with a handful of issues but other than that, it's been smooth sailing! I'm halfway through and hoping to finish out strong without being woken up in the middle of the night by the shrill sounds of the little tyke.
Here's hoping...
Cheers!
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