What's afoot

Another swiftly moving weekend of work is behind me and my feet are saying "thank you" for being propped up. My work week being every one else's weekends usually mean I start full steam ahead, warp into over drive, and spend my last day wishing it was busier so time would go by more quickly.

Schedule changes are just around the bend, starting next Monday. What that means for me is a switch in my days off, (still midweek) and finally a 40 hour work week. Swing shift managers and supervisors are switching over to a 4 day week, just like the guards, however they will be doing 10 hour shifts. Because I am  a Dual Rate Supervisor (sometimes a supervisor, sometimes a guard who works Podium and Control) my hours change as well. I believe they did this so we would be there if we were needed to hop into a supervisors jacket if one of them calls out. It will add another hour onto my days, but the change won't be as drastic for me as it will be for them, since I normally work 9 hours a shift.

The transition is going to be a real booger. My luck is holding as usual being that I will be adding a 5th day(in a row) of 10 hours onto my normal 36 hour week. There is also a meeting scheduled that will add another 1.5 hours  like the proverbial cherry on top. I know I will be one tired cookie after work that Monday. I just wonder sometimes why I cannot be the one that works 3 days and is off for 3 when transitions like this happen. It never seems to work out that way.

All this change means for me is that I won't be missing 8 hours a pay period, and I will pick up extra days as a supervisor at a better rate of pay. After the initial week I will be fine. But remember what I said about slow days dragging? My new Friday will now be Monday, the slowest day of the week. Argh! Give me busy over slow any day.

This change came about because the officers on our shift were not happy to lose the supervisory portion of the team 2 hours before the shift was over for them. It makes sense to keep us together. There will also be double coverage of supervisory staff on all 3 shifts, over lapping to allow time for reports to be completed before going home,and lots of help on nights where every supervisor is tied up. It seemed sometimes that the requests for sups far out paced the actual number of us that could answer the calls.

That's all the news I have for now..take care everyone
k

Paying Back and Paying Forward

I must confess that in my far past and not so distinct past I have been helped by both friends and sometimes complete strangers when I was stranded or very much in need. I am always reminded that though I was not asked to pay them back, I was asked to help someone else in need.  Those people, with nothing but kindness in their hearts, knew I needed help and answered the call, and saved my tail on a few occasions.

Why am I mentioning this? Because on Monday this week, in a too dark parking lot at Walmart someone approached me asking for help. It's understandable that most women who are alone in a dark parking lot would freak if some strange man came up to them. I guess my time at work has helped me to become less afraid, and I hope nothing ever happens to change that. This man stayed a respectable distance away and apologized for startling me. His story?

" Mam, could you help me? I ran out of gas on the interstate and  they kicked me out of the Sheetz parking lot for asking for help."

My reply " Yep, that is called panhandling and it is in most places against the law."

I looked at him as I was loading my groceries, and plucked the wallet out of my pocket.

" I don't have much, this $10 is the last of my cash."

" Thank you Mam, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this."

" No problem..but please spend it on gas or food."

" Yes Mam, thank you,."

And on that note he walked away across the parking lot. And I closed the trunk and pushed the cart to the buggy rack.

I don't know, it could have been a lie, but really I don't care. As much as I have received help it cannot hurt to give back. Was I concerned that he might take the wallet or hurt me? Umm, no. There really was nothing left in the wallet that would have been of use.  And his eyes spoke volumes of need and no aggression. He never stepped closer to me. I deal with angry people everyday at work. They get in your face, they try to bully, they curse you..they don't beg for help and maintain a respectful distance.

It is a rare thing that I even have cash in my wallet. Maybe this was meant to happen. It's a small step towards giving back for all that I have been given in my life. We have been made so afraid to make contact with strangers that most of us live in our own little bubble watching out for the bad guys and missing those that would truly benefit from a kind word or charitable gesture. There are a great deal of people living on the edge of a paycheck, or not getting one at all. For all we know that could be us tomorrow. Would we want someone to curse at us or run away when we ask for help? You know this would be a much better world if all of us treated others as we would want to be treated.

k

You should have stayed in school!

I am without of a good book at the moment so tonight I cruised a bit on a web site I had not been to for a while, Fail Blog. Clicking and reading, sometimes smiling..until I reached the Tattoo Fail site.

 Good Grief!!

It saddens me that so many of the folks who design their own tattoos cannot spell. Really, permanently showing the world that you should have stayed in school, or at least paid attention. It costs to get the art (ahem..maybe) on, and it costs a great deal more to have them removed. I am guessing for the most part that the fails will remain where they have been placed.

If the Tattoo artist made the mistake..I would consider a call to an attorney, but I am sure that there must have been a waiver signed somewhere. I am not a fan of body art because my imagination takes me on a time travel trip and I am thinking of that tattoo and how it will look in 30 years or more. Not everyone ages gracefully, most are lucky if we do.

I presume that quite a few of these creations were done in a moment of inspiration (or drunkenness) with little to no planning or thinking ahead. Being impulsive can be a good or a bad thing. ( I wonder if they make band-aids big enough to cover an entire back? Hmm..just wondering)

 I would hope that if any of my readers are considering body art that you plan, research and use spell check before you place yourself under the needle. Check out the work of the artist before you pick one..quite a few looked like they had been done by someone with little artistic talent. I did see a few tattoos that looked professional, beautiful work. The fails in those were due to spelling errors.

If you are set on getting a tattoo please visit the web site and see how bad some of them have turned out.
And stay in school!! Dishonor is not spelled: dishouner.

Sigh....
k

http://failblog.cheezburger.com/ugliesttattoos

Back to Normal

Well, back to as normal as I can be, which I am sure someone would cast doubt on. Returning to work was uncomfortable as my body was not quite up to speed, but I did it.  The "light" duty? Bahahahah! No such beast, but I knew that too. My legs and back protested the most, but I believe that was due to enforced inactivity from being too ill.

The bills from the hospital stay are starting to roll in, and I am pondering financial assistance again. Yes, it was a pain in the ass last year after the surgery, but in the long run it saved my tail from yet another debt.
According to my pauper's paycheck I surely qualify, I have not made over $20k this year so far. I am comfortable with this now as it has become my norm. Yes, I do miss the days of bigger paychecks, as a great many of my friends do as well. Will I ever be back into the middle class arena? It's doubtful with our current economy. Unless of course I win the lottery, which is the West Virginia retirement plan.

It has been a rough month for our department at work, I was not the only one out with health issues. Here's hoping that the rest of the year goes by with no more of that. It's time for good news, and I am ready.

Hugs,
k