Destination Determined

Destination Determined!

Thousand Oaks! Dad, that’s the last place I want to go. I told you a large east coast metropolitan area with culture, and you sign up for a small planned development in California.

That’s how my conversation with Molly started when I told her where I am working this summer. Thousand Oaks is actually a suburb of L.A. and yes it is a planned community that is only a few decades old. Not exactly what Molly was hoping for. Not to mention being on the opposite end of the continent.

“It’s even the safest city in the country as rated by Money Magazine” Molly continues, “that means there is absolutely nothing going on there.”

I was prepared to argue that point, but I was surprised that she discovered this little tidbit of information. As it turns out however, while I will be working in T.O. (as it’s called by locals), I can still choose housing in the L.A. area. An acceptable proposition to Molly.

So how did I end up agreeing to L.A. and not the east coast?

That is a recent lesson learned.

Most nurse managers approach administration needing extra help and needing help ASAP. That’s good for me, except I need a license for each state, and that takes longer than what most hospitals are willing to wait for.

What I should have done is chosen a state to work in such as Rhode Island, and gotten the license well in advance, thus eliminating any wait time.

California is one of only a handful of states that are called “walk-through” states, that is, just a one day wait for a temporary license, thus rating high on my list because it also has an abundance of needs for travel nurses and large cities.

Being a walk-through state though means that I literally have to be in the capitol to pick up my license, in this case Sacramento, the day before I start my orientation in L.A. That’s of course assuming there are no problems.

Hmmmmm. The makings of a new adventure, and of course an update for you to follow.