Perpetual Ruminations

Friday

This is kind of nice, and I could get used to this real fast. I'm talking about m work hours today. I normally work mornings and have to be to work by five minutes to five, which means getting up before the crack of dawn; around three o'clock.

Crack of dawn, that's funny. See, one of my brothers is married to a gal who is named Dawn, so we used to rib him about getting up to the crack of Dawn. Alright, maybe it's not that funny -- we thought it was.

Anyway, back to my subject, today's schedule. We are adjusting to losing one person and another on vacation for the weekend, so short two  people. So, instead of my normal morning routine with three days off and filling in the double coverage, I'm picking up extra hours to compensate for the shortage on help. This puts me over forty hours, and that is a bad thing. To cut me back under forty, I work just the double coverage today, which means I don't have to be at work until eleven this morning. Rhonda worked the long shift I usually do on Fridays and Saturdays.

She was up at three this morning, and being the very wonderful woman she is, let me sleep in. Now, it's not just to let me sleep more, but it also gets me out of her hair so she can get ready and get to work. Even so, it was nice to get to sleep in this morning and have this spare time to get a few things done. I did make our lunches and will bring them in, I fed the dogs and have them out with me right now, and I got my journal entry done.

The other side of this is my days off. I work right close to forty hours by putting in twelve hours on Friday, which Rhonda took for today. I also work eleven hours on Saturday, which I still will and let Rhonda come in at ten. Sundays I work six hours and Rhonda opens at eight, so she works eight hours. Then I would have three days off, and start over on Friday.

But, being short this week, I only was able to get one day off and had to do a bunch of work becausee we hired someone to replace the guard who quit. That's a big part of the reason I was given the time to sleep in this morning; I really didn't have a day off. I did, however, make sure that Rhonda had two days off. See, we try very hard to pamper each other and that's what love and marriage is all about.

This week will be kind of tough for both of us, but the checks will be nice. Next week, starting on Sunday, we will begin to incorporate our new schedule, designed to correct a problem with one guard, and to provide a regular schedule for everyone. Rhonda and I will still pick up some double coverage hours, and we will have some long days on the weekends, but it provides three days off for all the guards. Basically, we pick up most of the double coverage along with our regular shifts, so that everyone else gets a three day weekend.

We, in turn, get three days off together in the middle of the week. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we get to stay home  and do what we want. It's also the slower period at work and will make it easier for the rest. Only one of them has much for experience, and the other two are pretty new. The person we just hired back had some experience last summer, but she also had a lot of problems in her life and it kind of messed her up at work. She did fair, but did not put the effort into the job it requires.

She has made some big life changes and is trying to get her life back on track, and after talking with her on Tuesday, I decided she was worth another chance, and re-hired her. I hope she does better this year; I figure since she did not have any serious problems at work, she deserves the benefit of the doubt. I'm also going to stay positive on everything, but at the same time, I am not going to set myself up for another fall. If she works out, terrific, but if she starts to show signs of being a problem again, I will hire another person and she will lose hours.

This is the same case with another new guard. He tries hard and shows potential, but has been having some problems. I will also give him the opportunity to prove he can do the job, but if he continues to have problems, I will hire another and cut him back. I don't enjoy this side of being the boss, but I also don't enjoy giving up all my time and energy to babysit. Last summer Rhonda and I seldom had any time off. I did my best to get her a day here and a day there, but problems with guards made it very difficult. I also had few days off, and when I did schedule a day off, it was to interview, hire, and train in an attempt to get things back to normal.

I just don't want to spend another summer like that. So, the bottom line for work is, "Shape up or ship out."

If they fill the hours they are scheduled don't demand too much time off, and do the job well, they will have it made. If they don't, I'll have to look for and hire someone who will.