Perpetual Ruminations

Monday

Wow, I'm kind of surprised that I'm in here this early tonight. I was expecting to be quite late by the time I finally got in here to write. Not that I'm complaining, it's great to be in here this early, especially since I will be burning out soon.

It's been a long and tiring day. I was up at three fifteen this morning to get ready for work. It was cold, windy, and frosty out this morning, but turned out to be a pretty nice day. Well, nice for this time of the year; the sun was out most of the day, and the temperature reached the lower sixties. Of course, being South Dakota, the wind blew, and today it blew plenty hard, with gusts up to forty miles per hour.

After work, I came home and set into my afternoon tasks right off. I had to call my boss at the corporate office and get some things worked out, then after getting off the phone, I had to sit down and do up a corrective action on a guard who just can't get to work on time. Going by the book, he could have been terminated today, he's had three corrective actions already for being late.

But, my boss and I agreed that maybe a close call to being fired would wake him up. Yes, that pun was intended. Seriously, however, we decided on putting him on thirty days probation, and if there is any lateness, he's done. After the thirty days we will put him back on regular status, but the corporate office will not tolerate any more unexcused tardiness.

I hope he got the point loud and clear, and this will be the end to it. If not, there isn't much more I can do to keep him on. Besides, it's his call now, either comply or your done. I made sure he understood this was the case, but I also informed him we would prefer he just get to work on time and appreciate the hard work and good job he does.

Of course, this all meant I had to work from home most of the afternoon, then go back into work, a nice fifty mile round trip, go over the corrective action with him, and then return home about fourteen hours after I started work this morning. I should also point out, not only is this all a real pain for me, but I don't get paid anything for all this time I put in off the clock. No compensation other than what they pay me during my working hours working as a security guard.

I did squeeze in enough time to put some beef ribs in the oven along with a nice big squash. I turned them off while I was in talking to the guy, and now we are heating them back up, the ribs smothered in barbecue sauce, while we wait for the potatoes to cook.

And, since everything is almost done, it's time for me to exit and enjoy a late dinner, then bed.