Perpetual Ruminations

Sunday

I just read my intro up above and thought it's been a long while since I've shared any meandering ideas, persuasions, or deep cerebrations and serious mentations. It's not that I don't have any of these; I do. It's just a matter of getting in here with time to contemplate my daily thoughts and record them. Ideally, it would be nice to be able to log in here and write them down as they develop with in the gray matter within my head.

But, most of the time I'm involved with some task or problem when many of these strike notice in my thoughts. Other times I may have a nice daydream going on, but it's because I'm someplace waiting and have no other choice except to waste a bit of time in line, or driving, or waiting for someone. These are the times I let my mind wonder where it wants, and many thoughts pass through from my imagination. The problem is, during all of these times, I don't have any means to record any of these thoughts.

I could carry a small notebook with me everywhere, but if I'm lost in thought, I won't think to write down what's taken over my thoughts. The same is true with a recorder, I could carry one, and I even have one around here someplace, just for this purpose. But, I would have to carry it always, and when I'm working, I cannot have it. I suppose I could carry it in my bag, or perhaps find an app for my phone that turns it into a simple recorder.

I do have a note program on my phone so I can take simple notes, but I can't use it at work, and I can't use it while driving. I could, however, record my thoughts while driving, before and after work, and even from notes while I'm at work. Of course, the problem at work is interruptions, and then forgetting what my thought was be the time I can write it down. That problem will continue, and I don't have any idea on a solution to these many interruptions.

My biggest problem with recording them in here, is time. It is a rare commodity indeed, at least for me at this point in my life. Take today for instance. It's a Sunday, so I don't have to be at work until four this afternoon. To be there on time, i have to leave about a quarter past three, and to be ready, I should stop everything and prepare for work around two-thirty or quarter to three. Often, I'm so pressed I don't get ready until three, then it's a big rush right out the door.

But, I was up at six-thirty, had some coffee and spent a bit of time with my wife before she left for work at quarter past seven, this morning. I had another cup of coffee, kind of lounged around a bit, and fed the dogs breakfast. This took me to a little before eight, when Rhonda called to let me know she was just about to work -- something we both do for the other, so they know we didn't' have any problems along the way.

At that time, I started in on some things for work. I'm not on the clock, so no pay for this time, but as supervisor, I have to do some work from home and off the clock. They pay me .75 more for this. Of course, I tend to take more time to do more things than a lot of the other supervisors do, so I end up kind of short-changed on my check. Today I had to inventory extra clothing we have accumulated, items we loan out for new guards to use until their clothing comes in. I also wanted to create an inventory sheet to record these items on, since they don't always come back. Also, once in a while, someone will donate their clothing when they quit.

I also wanted to create a form that states just what items and the condition they were in at the time, were loaned out. This is something the new guard will sign when they get hired, and I will sign off when they turn in the clothing they borrowed. It may not provide a means of getting compensated for clothing that gets destroyed, or is not returned, but at least I will know who has what, as well as what is left in inventory.

Now that I have this task done, except for copies I will make just prior to starting my shift this afternoon, I have a weekly report to prepare. I do not have the weeks tally of items we found that were over the correct counts, or the tally of wrong items, and I don't have the tally of items that were not present. We are assessed by how many "mistakes" we find. Some are actually mistakes and miscounts, but there are also some that are intentional. It's amazing how some people will try and leave with a more expensive item than the one they purchased, and say the store made the mistake. It's also amazing how many times someone will try and conceal a couple extra items under some of the others.

That is the biggest role we have with our job, to ensure that every item that leaves the yard has been purchased, is the correct item, and that they have the same amount as on their ticket and receipt. Loss prevention is what it is. We log any alterations to the tickets as overs, shorts, or wrong items. The store uses these statistics to determine if we are doing our job adequately or not, and I have to send a weekly report with this information as well as any situations or concerns we have to the corporate office, once a week.

I also have to interview, hire, and meet with employees over problems, corrective actions, and evaluations. All this is beside my actual job of being a security guard, and most of it is done on my time, and without pay. Well, except for the .75 cents more I get per hour while I'm working on site as a guard. I often put in another ten to twenty hours a week, depending on if we are having problems. I did record this time for a while, and should get back into the habit of logging my start times and stop times again, as well as the time I spend driving in to work and home other than for my job.

Currently, we are trying to hire another person, then in April, I will have another guard exit and need to hire yet again. so right now, I am very short on time, have only one day off per week, and seem to be always occupied with work. I'm hopeful that this person we just hired will pass the test, and do a great job. Then I just need one more person who is capable, and I may actually have a bit of time for other things. The person who just quit was not a good worker, and it seemed he took up a great deal of my time because of that, so out with the bad and in with someone who will not require much of my time.

I just hope I can get a couple of good workers, get them trained and be done with this hiring part for a long time. Even so, I will have plenty to do outside of work, since I have evaluations do in April and May, and I'm getting further behind in work around the house and yard. Even so, if the new hires are good workers, I can get in here and not only have time to record some deeper thoughts, but maybe even write a little, read a little, and do a few reviews, again.