You see, I don't really care about overtime.  I don't really want to work 12 hours a day, 5 days a week, but I did that for a long, long time in the past and yes, I could eventually get used to it again - and the larger paychecks.

I came back to the yard today to find a - lot - of stuff to do.  It was already past 3 o'clock.  That's 9 hours already on the clock with more to do.  So, I get on the computer to see what's in there for tomorrow, then go discuss it with the salesman - he comes to our place a lot to get some work done - and about to go outside to start working on orders.

A contractor pulls into the yard.  This takes a while, not a huge order but enough to have to divert my time to  getting it done.  Back to work? Not quite.  Another contractor comes up to the now-locked front door.  I go and let him in.  Get done with him and then something else - I don't remember what - comes up.  I finally get to pulling the material off the truck and check all of the quantities and then print orders to pull for tomorrow morning.

So, this has been a typical day for a while now.

Rumors surfacing about sending drivers home after reaching 40 hours and bringing in temps (good luck with that - numerous reasons that wouldn't work out but too much to go into right now, almost my bedtime).  Management calling my manager to ask about why the OT hours.  On and on. I won't go into some of it considering this is the world wide web, needless to say if they want to cut our OT, they're going to have to bring in another worker into our store.

I was supposed to go to church tonight but getting home at just before 6 and the thing starting at 6:30? Nope.  I really wanted to go, but just not happening.  It's a bit after 8 and I am going to bed in a few minutes.

Company Christmas party on Saturday.  GM returned my email: I would prefer if you only brought 1 person with you.  That shot down having George and his girlfriend coming.  They're nice people, good conversationalists, they would have been fun to bring along.  It's his house, though.

Prince's haunches getting visibly worse.  I get sick at the thought of having to put him down.  He doesn't wince and is in no visible pain, but about the time that starts happening.....a trip to the vet will be in order.  He's not sick, like with cancer or something such as Coco had, he's just having trouble with his hind end and walking.  I am giving him glucosamine daily and am going to buy a bottle of the other stuff - the name of which escapes me right now - but that's about all you can do.  Unless a vet has some other ideas.  It's just a problem that large dogs can get.  Duke, on the other hand, a much larger dog, has no joint problems going at all.  I am also giving him the supplements.

I"m done.

G'nite.

ben

The operations manager finally forced the issue to allow a worker to come over to our branch yesterday and help get things in order.  The place was getting pretty chaotic.  We simply don't have the time for it.  That guy spent the entire day organizing things, putting stuff away and cleaning up.  It is, actually, a part of my job to do all of that.  No time for it.  Pulling orders and driving, that's what I do all day and "down-time" days are far and few between.  I am driving a very dirty truck - a thing I hate - but I don't have time to wash that, either and there are no truck wash outlets anywhere near our store's location and when I do go by one, well, that's all I have time to do: look over and wish I could stop and get it washed.

Oh well.  Company Christmas party on Saturday.  Not sure that I am going.  It's a very long drive and if I wanted to have a few drinks?  Not a happening event.  Driving home is the issue with that, even if I only have a few I am not comfortable driving and certainly not that far.  George - one of my tenants - and his girlfriend offered to drive me out there and enjoy the party with me.  The general manager said no.  Great.  People bring all kinds of people with them to these parties that do not work for the company and in many cases aren't even related to the person that brought them.

I'm leaning towards not going, but I won't really make that decision until Saturday.  If I feel like it, I will, if I don't, no biggies.

Switched insurance companies.  It was time to renew my insurance and a bigger payment. I decided to find out if I could find anything cheaper.  Yes, indeed, I did.  Up until 3 or 4 months ago, the rate had gone up to an all-time high of $249 per month. Then, out of the blue without my asking, they lowered the bill to $189 per month.  Then the renewal came and they informed me that my rate was going to go back up. Bunk.  My new rate is $152 per month. That's for 2 cars, full coverage on one of them and 2 drivers.  Caleb has done well to stay out of accidents and not get any tickets, though he was pulled over a while back for - what I don't know.  He got out of it, whatever it was.

Well, anyway, just a quick update.

Off to work.

G'day.

ben

I woke up this morning (Sunday) around 4:30am.  I didn't want to wake up that early, I just did.

I am going to have to find a way to come to terms with these long work weeks with weekends filled with activities if this is going to continue.  The problem is fatigue.  I was so tired at church this morning I could barely stay awake.

I know for a fact that tomorrow at work is a full day's worth of work.  There are 5 truckloads of pipe to be hauled plus everything else.

I felt like doing nothing today.  I got outside and watered plants and thought about putting up Christmas
lights, but quickly dismissed that idea.  Sunday - going to take it easy.

One of the elders of the church "chased" me down today when I was leaving church.  They are having a special ministry training seminar on Wednesday - teach people how to do altar ministry, he wanted to let me know that the church would like me to come to it.

I'm not opposed to it - but it's a weekday and I miss most of the small groups at this point because of late work days.  I have also been involved in a great deal of altar ministry in my lifetime, but I guess a refresher course wouldn't hurt since I've been out of it so long.  I explained to him my work situation and promised I would come if I wasn't held too long at work.

Church will, inevitably, begin to take up more and more of my time.  By choice, of course.  It won't supersede work of course, but it will supersede many other things if this path that I am on continues to go in the direction that it has been.

Well, it's time to go to sleep just before I start musing about the things of God and the wonder I have about where He will lead me to go and what to do with the rest of my life. Working a full time job may not be in that particular deck of cards.

G'nite.

ben

Unbeknownst to me, the Yerba Mensa had totally discarded the pot it was in and was free-growing along the side of the top of the pond.  Five feet long, an extensive root system simply growing in the water.  I knew that they could do that, I didn't know the thing had somehow removed itself out of the pot.

It was a simple matter, therefore, to lift the entire thing up and over the side of the pond and just let it hang there while I thoroughly sprayed it with ant and roach killer.  Near-invisible caterpillars became extremely visible while they were wiggling and croaking to death.  Good riddance. I waited for a while and then I started spraying the leaves and stems with fresh water.  Doused the entire top of it where any poison might get into the pond water from dripping down the leaves until I felt I had done enough of it - which was a good while.  I then let it drip dry for a bit longer and then - put it back into place.  I resprayed the entire system that is outside of the water with poison and below the top of the pond so that this will not be a reoccurring situation.

It will take time, but that plant will grow new leaves and eventually get rid of the eaten ones.  A month or two, I am guessing and it will start looking healthy again.  Very resilient plant, even with a large percentage of leaves eaten up,  it will send out new leaves and the ones that are eaten up? What little is left of them is still green.
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Long interlude.  Got the dog outside and started to go to town. She didn't like it.  Not my problem.  She stayed obediently in place for the most part while I shaved that long hair away.  I was informed this was a short to medium haired dog, this is definitely a LONG haired dog, only made short by shaving it regularly.  Well, I have an electric shaver now and I will be doing this once a month, I am guessing.    After spending nearly an hour trying to get all of that off of her, I then bathed her in oatmeal shampoo - she has a problem with dandruff but oatmeal shampoo deals with it quite well - and then took the scissors that came with the package and started cutting away at the hair the machine just wouldn't take off.

I am done with that for today.  There is still some hair left to go on her belly and legs, but for my first time ever attempting to do that, she looks pretty good.
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Long day.  Week.  Christmas will bring a 4 day vacation.  Umm, no, I forgot, I put in for an extra day or 2.  4 days off, though, without that.  2 weekend days and 2 paid days from the company and then if I get the other 1 or 2, well there you go.  I could use some time off before then - too much to do and too little time to do it - but I am not going to ask.  I need to save my vacation hours for some time off next summer.
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Randy's house is coming together. He's slowly getting the framing done and started installing windows.  However, there is MAJOR problem with that house: the foundation has a crack in it.  He filled it in with cement or something, but that does not repair a crack, just covers it up.  Whatever.  He also used 2 inch diameter pipe for the toilet. ?!!!  LOL!!! Ummmm, okay.  That's not going to work too well, is all I can say about that.

Well that's enough for now.  I have been cranking all day long and I am ready to take a break  - like for the rest of the day, lol.

ben

Saturday 12/1/2012

So, the wasps went away - where who knows - and now caterpillars have taken their place.
I was looking at my Yerba Mensa the other day and thinking how badly those wasps had ravaged that plant.

Well I was looking at it again just now thinking, wait a minute, something else MUST be going on here, the leaves on this plant are completely ravaged.  First thought: caterpillars.  Started looking underneath leaves and sure enough.

How do you get rid of them?  I can't spray poison on the plant, it will kill the fish.

I guess I'm going to have to take that giant plant that is entangled in everything (which was the intended effect) and try to get it out of the pond so I can thoroughly spray it with poison.  It's going to have to be out of the pond for several days to do that and then when I figure I've gotten all those nasty creatures, wash the whole plant with water and then put it back in.

One plant, right, how hard can that be?  This plant has grown all over the pond, down the sides and onto the ground.  It has shooters going all over place. It's a beautiful plant - or was until all those leaves got eaten up.

I can't put it off, those caterpillars are going to kill that plant if I leave it go too much longer.

57 hours, I believe it was, for the work week. Long week.  Plus 5 hours put in at church this morning doing the rummage sale.  The end of the sale was the hard part cause' had to take down all the tables, put them in a trailer and then put all the seats back into place plus fold up all the clothes and everything that wasn't sold and put it in the prayer room until they can figure out what they want to do with it - though I think they were talking about donating it to Goodwill.

Well, anyway. Trip to Walmart was in order.  I am not going to pay $60 or more everytime that dog's hair needs trimmed.  And trimmed it needs, badly. I went and got a pet trimmer for $29 and I bought 2 cans of ant and roach killer spray.  That should take care of caterpillars, too, I am guessing/hoping.  I have sprayed it on plants before and it didn't do anything to the plant, another good thing.

Umm, so, busy week, busy day already,  more to go.

Later.

ben

35-1/2 hours of work in 3 days.
I used to do this, daily, 6 days a week.   For years.
I hated it.  You have no time to live your life.
I don't mind doing it here and there, but when it gets into
the consecutive day type of thing - with things left undone -
the it starts to become an issue.

I ended up going out there and watering plants in the dark today.
Can't let it go too long.
I want to hang up Christmas lights out there as well.
I'm not sure WHEN that's going to happen. I was asked and
subsequently volunteered to work a 5 hour shift at church on
Saturday.

I'm not unhappy with work.  Work is a good thing.
But some things going on at work with individuals - well, anyway.
In some cases, arrogance. In at least one other case, not liking
the type of work they are doing and - not taking pride in their
work, subsequently.

I'm definitely expecting that at some point, things are going to come
to a head.  It's going to escalate to the point that the GM is going
to end up getting involved with this.  I only know that we are
going to hit at least the 400k mark this month.  I'm working my @$$
off, my manager is definitely working his @$$ off, we keep a great
attitude with our customers.

But, the situation with others in our company is at the intolerable point.
People with no clue attempting to tell us how to "expedite" our store and
make it more "efficient", notwithstanding the fact that they have NO input
as to HOW that is going to happen.  I can tell you the only way it's
going to happen: more personnel.

Without another set of hands to pull orders or drive a vehicle, not a
happening event.

Whatever the case, at 4:00 pm, I started petering out.  I had eaten 2
bananas and a very small sandwich early morning and nothing after that.
I didn't want to keep working and I flatly stated such.  Go get something
to eat then.

That's it.  Another day of non-stop grinding.  I DID go up to the mountains,
btw, in the midst of all of this.

To end this one, I need to find a woman.  Seriously.  This single junk has
going on long enough.

G'day.

ben

DO NOT ADD ANYTHING WITHOUT CONTACTING US FIRST!!

That was what I put in our truck routing system yesterday, after seeing that the salesmen had just kept dumping more and more deliveries and pickups in there to do.

Ridiculous.  I already informed 2 salesmen that there is no WAY I can do everything that has been put in there in one day.  Too much to do, too many orders to pull, too much driving.  It's not that I don't want to, it's just physically impossible.

What cracks me up is that some of these people will just put stuff in there without checking with us first and without looking at what they are adding to.  They just assume it will get done.

23-1/2 hours in 2 days.  I'm looking at another long day today unless something changes.  We have been informed that our branch does not warrant a 3rd person.  Great, we are just going to work lots of OT and then perhaps the message will get across.  Or not.  I love OT - up to a point.  At some point, you cross over to another tax bracket or status and then you see more taxes being taken out to the point that  all those extra hours don't add up to a hill of beans.

Oh, wait a minute, I think beans are expensive nowadays, that old saying might not mean that much anymore, could actually be contradictory from it's intended meaning, lol.

Time to get on the road and get to the daily grind.

G'day.

ben

I bought a salad this morning - fat free dressing of course - with an apple and sugar-free white peach tea.
That was around 8 am.  9 hours later, still grinding away but now in the yard, pulling orders and doing all that it entails to get a truck loaded including loading the truck - I ran out of energy.

"Go get something to eat then!".  I was ready to go HOME.  I had a frozen dinner in the refrigerator, heated that up, wolfed it down and went back to work.  An hour later - the truck was loaded, it was all done, only a  few things left to do in the morning. After THAT, then there's MUCH more.  I am supposed to do a couple of other deliveries and then go up into the mines up in the mountains.

Well whatever.  I just do what I can get done.  I work at a very efficient, brisk pace.  Today I slowed down after 11 straight hours of it.

Did I say it's 15 minutes til' my bedtime?

G'nite.
ben

What happens when you are informed by a manager that your work is not up too part and that you need to "step it up" some in terms of productivity?
My manager wasn't too happy when I returned to the yard yesterday - which was at around 6:00 pm, btw.  I was grinding all day long, one place to the next to the next.
Apparently, we need to "find" ways to expedite the process.
All two of  us, that is, running a branch that did 4 and a half million in sales last year.  That includes shipping; receiving; pulling orders; palletizing and wrapping those orders; loading the truck and delivering those orders.  It includes all the elements one could possibly conceive that go into running a store.

All 2 of us did that.

The numbers, fortunately, are on our side.  Not just the 4 and a half million, which is an impressive number by itself.

But also some other numbers that the company uses to measure a branch's efficiency.  I don't know what numbers they use to come to such a conclusion, but an outside salesman informed us yesterday that our numbers are "kicking ass" over all the other branches.  This includes much larger branches with 4, 5 and more personnel that are doing LESS in sales than we are.  We are informed that the numbers at our branch to do not warrant a 3rd worker, yet when compared to every other branch that is within our region, well, the numbers tell a  completely different story.

That outside salesman is on our side, btw.  He SEES what we go through on a day to day basis, it's not like we have to "act" like we're busy, we ARE busy.  Another outside salesman attests to the same thing.

Yet, some higher level managers still think we are sitting around, jacking off, having women over and drinking kegs of beer while watch porn when on the clock.

Okay, a bit of an exaggeration and possibly offensive in nature, but the whole situation is beginning to piss me off.  Mouthy, heady, arrogant people walking around spouting off things coming from lips that are completely and totally clueless.

And then......................

Another story.  Apparently, I am "not going to like" having satellite installed in my truck.  I wasn't there for the conversation - on the road of course at the time - but my manager had to ask: WHY do you think he won't like it?  Do you think he's just goofing off all day long?  What is the point of satellite in a company that hasn't used it and doesn't need it?  Obvious: to monitor it's drivers.  What are we doing all day long?  Screw the satellite, if they think I'm some sort of sloucher - which I can guarantee you 100% I am not - let them install a CAMERA on the dash of the truck.

I dunno.  When a person's work is unappreciated, then what do you do next?

G'day.

ben