I spent some time in Jupiter/Juno/Palm Beach area. I am so grateful to have made new friends and will return to visit them. But the area just didn’t “speak” to me. It wasn’t negative; it was a null set. Just nothing there, no word, no urge, no pull.
My father was in the Melbourne Beach area the week I was exploring Fort Myers. He told me that he thought I would like it there. So I took off north to have a look around.
I arrived over the bridge into Indialantic (named because it is the town between the Indian River and the Atlantic Ocean) and what I didn’t feel in the Palm Beach area came upon me like a FORCE. I felt an urge, a pull, a feeling of coming home.
Indialantic is very a chill and cool surfing community. To the far north is Cape Canaveral and south is Melbourne Beach.
There’s the “mainland” and “beach side”.
The greater Melbourne area is called the Space Coast because Canaveral but also the many, many avionic and aerospace companies there. A guy I spoke to in Palm Beach said, “There are alot of smart people up there.”
BONUS.
I found a little place to stay and had a look around.
The next morning, I took my coffee to the beach.
That night I went to the river and watched the sunset. It was December 19 and people were heading out for a night-time Christmas Boat Parade.
I found a little, inexpensive place to live until I could find a job. Anna is a Chinese National HUSTLING for the American Dream. She has several properties that she rents in Airbnb. They are affordable rooms in houses. She is efficient, friendly and kind. And her properties are clean and well-kept. She’s a wonder to me. And she really helps people who are transient and need a way to set down while they sort out.
People park on the grass in Florida. It’s so odd. But I do it now, so…
I looked around the area and saw a hospital right across the bridge from Indialantic (there are no hospitals on the island).
My original vision for employment in Florida was to find a job in an agency that supplied staffing for PACUs in surgery centers or hospitals. I thought that would be a good way to look around, work in different areas and find my “place”. But, as January approached, I started to think I should get a full-time job. Things were starting to feel a little urgent and I reconsidered my grand idea to find this kind of perfect set-up.
So, I felt so relieved when the morning I got back to Labelle, a job posted IN THE PACU at THAT HOSPITAL. I applied.
But then something awesome happened. The recruiter told me of another job: a float position in the surgical services division of the organization that owns the hospital. They own 5 facilities in the area. The nurses in this position float to the different hospitals and fulfill staffing needs.
I was interviewed by the manager and she said, “You could even work for awhile in the float pool and if you find a place you like, you could get a full time job when one comes open.” Yes…she actually said that.
Only God, I tell ya. See the thing is, I had changed my mind, but God brought me right back to the desire of my heart. Who put that desire in my heart in the first place? God. It’s a full, beautiful circle.
So, I got the job offer the next day and I start on February 1. Orientation is 2-3 weeks in each hospital.
The manager told me that all the hospitals have their own unique personality. Canaveral is the “beach” hospital. Everyone works hard to get the cases done so they can go to the beach, surf, fish, bike, whatever. That’s the sound of heaven.
Holmes is a large hospital that does 60 cases a day. They are the trauma hospital for the region. I haven’t worked critical PACU in 20 years. I’m excited to do some intense post-op cases. Again, I’m so grateful that God saw fit not to put me there full-time in the original job for which I applied. That would not have been a good fit in the long run. I like the idea of doing cataract cases all day for a break from that kind of thing. I’m too old to sustain that kind of intensity.
I arrived in Melbourne to my new little pad on January 2. I’m looking for a place beachside. I have a couple leads but will wait until I find the place that is JUST right for me. I’d love a one bedroom. But if I can find something within sound and sight of the ocean, I’ll take a studio. But I’ll always make room for any friend who wants to come and enjoy this wonderful place with me.
I leave you with this…