Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Time's are a changin'

2-24-16

11 years. Where does the time go?

I just spoke to the birthday boy. He was surprised I called, but pleased. He wished me a good day at work which warmed my heart.

It has been a crazy couple of days with several things happening that although are upsetting, I am trying to just move on from them. No use in dwelling on the bad. Sure, I could possibly change them, but I am not sure I need to.

The first change is in the form of my schedule. Right now, and as I have been doing for the past 7 years is a 4:30 to 1 shift. It is truly a glorious schedule since I still have a couple of hours every afternoon to myself to do everything from chores to doctor appointments to just sitting on my ass watching a movie. Trusty came to me yesterday and told me that HR didn’t want people in the building before 6 anymore. As I go over his conversation in my head, I am starting to think he is in on it as well what with one excuse being safety (for 15 years I have always been one of the first people in the building along with a handful of other folks here when I am here with no issues) and the other being that my super visor isn’t here. Mind you, my direct supervisor is Trusty, who doesn’t bother to show up most days until after 9. Plus, the only other supervisor in the department isn’t here until 6:30 (unless he also has been advised of this change). I could make the argument that they should just make me a supervisor, something I have petitioned for in the past. I could show proof that multiple other folks are in house while I am here, keeping me safe from this perceived harm. Ultimately, though, I think it is a losing battle, one in which I may end up just being sneakier about. They tried to do this in the past and my start time slowly creeped up as I just kept coming in earlier each day. They aren’t so great at enforcing things around here, so this may be what I end up doing.
That being said, really those 90 minutes could be put to good use. With the boys staying up later as they age and us having so many things going on in the evening, the need to get to bed so early won’t be as crucial. I also am now seriously considering getting an exercise bike or just firing up the Wii Fit in the mornings before work which would give me an extra half an hour or so of sleep and exercise all in one choice. I had been thinking of getting some exercise equipment anyway for Dax’s sake since let’s face it, kid is gonna be buff. I could then use these things and get back into shape during a time in which I will not being doing anything else too important and I would have time to shower and still be able to listen to all of Kevin and Bean. You know; priorities.

The next bummer is Florida. No, not just that the people in Florida seem to be especially retarded, but that we will not be traveling there for the AYSO National Games after all. Due to poor communication between both our RC and the coach, not enough families are able to commit to the expense of traveling for a week for soccer. Had we maybe mentioned it sooner, I think we would have had a better chance, but JJ also recognized that he wanted to see if he even had a decent team before telling anyone that we could go to Florida. Ultimately, another situation in which communication has been key. Now yes, I could amp up fundraising or really get out there to help some of these families afford this, but I know that at least one family wasn’t able to go not because of cost, just time. I get that, and really, it was going to be crazy for us as well. I am incredibly sad for Dax since he has already lost so much time with this injury and now another amazing opportunity has been snatched from him. On the plus side, I will make a point of letting him play in any leagues we can find. That kid will not be out of soccer during the month of July what with indoor teams now recruiting him. Plus, Bobby would have been bored out of his skull. How frustrating to be stuck at the field all day for a week, and knowing Disney World and Potterland is all so dang close! Once again, it is another disappointment that we will power through. I haven’t broken the news to Dax yet, and I don’t know if Ken did. I will wait until after this already tough weekend before I drop that bombshell.

The next big thing hasn’t been finalized yet, nor do I know the full plan yet as we only just spoke to the consultant yesterday. Steve is going solar! Ken is working with his dad on some of the financial details, but the plan is to use the awesome roof that Steve has to essentially produce our own power. The monthly payments work out to a good $50 less than our normal power bills, which also would end up being a non-fluctuating payment which is good. When we did the remodel, we did certain things to prep for this, including new electrical panels and even connections to the roof for this. It is through Costco, which is good too since let’s face it, they rock. As I know more details I will report them.

My day has been crazy busy what with there being a trade show going on this week. All of the large orders coming through are from customers looking at the bright and shiny equipment, not considering the fact that they either have a crap ton of past due with me, or that they don’t have a good enough credit rating to get such a large order. I would like to point out, though, after working on all of my reports, my debits that are over 61 days are less than $800. All the other reps have upwards of $10K. Yeah, I kinda rock.

So now I will finish out my aging, sending my countless reminders to folks to not muck with my year end goals that will be a total cake walk at this point. One of the reminders to myself that although I am irritated at the actions of my employer, they do seem to be at least attempting to compensate me.


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