Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label work. Show all posts
February 25, 2009
Since Dunce Hats Are Outdated
I figured we could keep one of these handy for the person who isn't pulling their weight at work. They could wear it all day and the rest of us would be justified in calling them a $#@&head.
November 29, 2008
My Job Needs Resuscitating
Back in April, the job that I was doing for the paper that I work for was eliminated. I ended up taking an entirely new job just created that no one else had done before. I would be replacing three soon to be former employees. I received a grand total of about one hour worth of training from the outgoing guy who had all the single copy sales responsibilities. That's the papers that are sold in stores and in the vending machines. I received zero hours of training from the slacker who was responsible for the home delivery distribution. She decided to call in sick her last week of work rather than stick around to help out the poor schlep who was booting her out the door. The warehouse guy was really the only reasonable one to work with for the last week that they were employed. At least he didn't bail and stick it to the new guy. Well, not actually a "new guy". I have 21 years in circulation, just not the circulation they were responsible for.
The first month as the big cheese, I worked seven days a week around 12 to 14 hours a day. I was essentially training myself. I had to learn everything about this new position on my own. To top things off, one of the home delivery dealers had given a 30 day notice that was effective the day before I took over the area. Making matters worse, he had a carrier who quit on him two days before that. I was throwing a route that took about 2 and a half hours to deliver. It was nasty...apartments, condos, businesses. I couldn't take a day off until someone knew how to do my job. Even if they knew the job, I couldn't leave them to throw the route. It would take them about 5 hours if they didn't know the delivery.
My "swing man" who works for me on my two days off could only be trained by me on overtime on my days off! He worked other districts his other three days. After about three weeks of training, (that's my 2 days off each week) he was able to have enough knowledge of the nuts and bolts of the job to at least let me have my days off. There were still things that he could not do that were necessary to the operation. I had to do these when I got back from my off days. This usually caused my Monday to be excessively long. I had become a zombie of sorts. Eat, sleep, work. Eat, sleep, work for weeks on end. My wife wasn't real pleased either. I missed some birthday's, doctor appointments, and various other promises of "I'll be home by....." all for the job. I felt obligated. I couldn't NOT be there and let the district blow up. How foolish to have such concern for a job well done. I could have easily taken the route of a slacker and been none the worse for wear. But that's not me.
Well the story goes along for a few months and I get the operation fine tuned. The operation is purring like a kitten and quite manageable. The home delivery dealers are doing a good job and I'm making sure they get paid. The single copy distribution is still a hassle for paperwork but that's the nature of that beast.
I get a call from my Teamsters Local Business agent. He says he has a meeting with the company the next day and he's planning a general meeting with the membership. This is never good news when those two events occur in close proximity. The news can only be bad and it generally costs us money or benefits. After his meeting with the company the rumors are flying. Layoffs, consolidations, cut backs. You name it we heard it from one source or another.
The next week I'm sitting in the union hall at the preordained meeting reading the informational page that was handed out and lo and behold, my district is being eliminated. The plan was to have my operation folded into the Mercury News operation in the same warehouse. In other words, I did too good of a job starting from scratch taking over from three people and making the thing work with just the one of me. Now I've worked myself out of a job.
The most galling part of all of it is the line that was fed to me by my supervisor. He had been on vacation the week prior when all this went down. He met with me and asked me what was happening like he hadn't been in the loop. I may have been born at night but I wasn't born last night. He said he just heard about it Monday when he came back to work. Yeah, ya lying sack of fertilizer. Nothing happens in his warehouse that he doesn't know about. He always sends some type of email when he's on vacation. He follows up on things even when he's gone, leaves voicemail, etc. Then he asks me what I thought would be the best way of implementing the "plan" for my area. I sat there thinking, "You've got to be kidding me!"
He was handing me rope hoping I would hang myself by telling him how to eliminate my own job. I don't get paid enough to create or eliminate jobs. The company can post the job description and I'll bid on it if I like it. If I don't, I'll bump into another department. The nerve of this guy. The longer I sat there the more upset I became. After repeatedly asking me what I thought I would do he came up with a scenario where I could keep my San Mateo Times district AND pick up the Mercury News circulation in Palo Alto. Let me see, here. That means I would have two jobs. San Mateo Times AND Mercury News. Along with that comes Wall Street Journal, Barron's IBD, Financial Times. Let me check the pay scale. Oh, right. Twice the work, same pay....sorry about that.
Never again will I assume that this or any other company has even a speck of gratitude at all for the work that the employees provide. For twenty one years I have worked Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, birthdays and anniversaries. I have missed countless family functions because of the ridiculous hours I work. I've gone to bed before my kids their entire lives. I work when the rest of the city is sleeping. I understand I chose freely to remain with the company all these years. The pay and benefits were just good enough to keep me from leaving. That has taken a turn for the worse as well. We have consistantly been diverting our raises to our health and welfare plan for several years now. This past September we actually took a pay cut to maintain our healthcare coverage levels. While we still have exceptional healthcare coverage, the company is moving closer and closer to eliminating the union. My hope is that they will stay afloat until I can secure a new career path. The newspaper industry is in dire straits with circulation in a free fall.
Get the paddles out, start an IV and CPR.
The first month as the big cheese, I worked seven days a week around 12 to 14 hours a day. I was essentially training myself. I had to learn everything about this new position on my own. To top things off, one of the home delivery dealers had given a 30 day notice that was effective the day before I took over the area. Making matters worse, he had a carrier who quit on him two days before that. I was throwing a route that took about 2 and a half hours to deliver. It was nasty...apartments, condos, businesses. I couldn't take a day off until someone knew how to do my job. Even if they knew the job, I couldn't leave them to throw the route. It would take them about 5 hours if they didn't know the delivery.
My "swing man" who works for me on my two days off could only be trained by me on overtime on my days off! He worked other districts his other three days. After about three weeks of training, (that's my 2 days off each week) he was able to have enough knowledge of the nuts and bolts of the job to at least let me have my days off. There were still things that he could not do that were necessary to the operation. I had to do these when I got back from my off days. This usually caused my Monday to be excessively long. I had become a zombie of sorts. Eat, sleep, work. Eat, sleep, work for weeks on end. My wife wasn't real pleased either. I missed some birthday's, doctor appointments, and various other promises of "I'll be home by....." all for the job. I felt obligated. I couldn't NOT be there and let the district blow up. How foolish to have such concern for a job well done. I could have easily taken the route of a slacker and been none the worse for wear. But that's not me.
Well the story goes along for a few months and I get the operation fine tuned. The operation is purring like a kitten and quite manageable. The home delivery dealers are doing a good job and I'm making sure they get paid. The single copy distribution is still a hassle for paperwork but that's the nature of that beast.
I get a call from my Teamsters Local Business agent. He says he has a meeting with the company the next day and he's planning a general meeting with the membership. This is never good news when those two events occur in close proximity. The news can only be bad and it generally costs us money or benefits. After his meeting with the company the rumors are flying. Layoffs, consolidations, cut backs. You name it we heard it from one source or another.
The next week I'm sitting in the union hall at the preordained meeting reading the informational page that was handed out and lo and behold, my district is being eliminated. The plan was to have my operation folded into the Mercury News operation in the same warehouse. In other words, I did too good of a job starting from scratch taking over from three people and making the thing work with just the one of me. Now I've worked myself out of a job.
The most galling part of all of it is the line that was fed to me by my supervisor. He had been on vacation the week prior when all this went down. He met with me and asked me what was happening like he hadn't been in the loop. I may have been born at night but I wasn't born last night. He said he just heard about it Monday when he came back to work. Yeah, ya lying sack of fertilizer. Nothing happens in his warehouse that he doesn't know about. He always sends some type of email when he's on vacation. He follows up on things even when he's gone, leaves voicemail, etc. Then he asks me what I thought would be the best way of implementing the "plan" for my area. I sat there thinking, "You've got to be kidding me!"
He was handing me rope hoping I would hang myself by telling him how to eliminate my own job. I don't get paid enough to create or eliminate jobs. The company can post the job description and I'll bid on it if I like it. If I don't, I'll bump into another department. The nerve of this guy. The longer I sat there the more upset I became. After repeatedly asking me what I thought I would do he came up with a scenario where I could keep my San Mateo Times district AND pick up the Mercury News circulation in Palo Alto. Let me see, here. That means I would have two jobs. San Mateo Times AND Mercury News. Along with that comes Wall Street Journal, Barron's IBD, Financial Times. Let me check the pay scale. Oh, right. Twice the work, same pay....sorry about that.
Never again will I assume that this or any other company has even a speck of gratitude at all for the work that the employees provide. For twenty one years I have worked Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, birthdays and anniversaries. I have missed countless family functions because of the ridiculous hours I work. I've gone to bed before my kids their entire lives. I work when the rest of the city is sleeping. I understand I chose freely to remain with the company all these years. The pay and benefits were just good enough to keep me from leaving. That has taken a turn for the worse as well. We have consistantly been diverting our raises to our health and welfare plan for several years now. This past September we actually took a pay cut to maintain our healthcare coverage levels. While we still have exceptional healthcare coverage, the company is moving closer and closer to eliminating the union. My hope is that they will stay afloat until I can secure a new career path. The newspaper industry is in dire straits with circulation in a free fall.
Get the paddles out, start an IV and CPR.
October 29, 2008
It's Only A Matter Of Time
My job for the last 22 years has been in the print media. Specifically circulation. While the circulation of the paper I work for has declined exponentially over the last few years, it remains afloat through a series of sales/mergers/acquisitions. There has been an increased effort to promote the "eEdition", an online version of the paper that looks identical to the print version. The difference being you can click on links such as advertising or articles or you can download coupons, etc. This "eEdition" is just another step in the progression away from a "manufactured" product distributed by employees and contractors. The Christian Science Monitor has announced that they will no longer print their daily newspaper and become an online only publication. This does not bode well for my future in this line of work.
July 17, 2008
A Hole In The Sky
I was working in the field up the peninsula in Daly City and Colma and was coming over the hill to get to highway 101 when I came across this incredible light show. It was a very foggy morning. The small peninsula of land in the center of the picture is just south of Candlestick Park, the former home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. It was truly a spectacular display! I took a series of pictures over about six minutes. I've posted them on my Flickr page. Check them out if you'd like.
The reason I was up there was because we were trying to determine if a guy we have contracted to distribute one of our publications is just ripping us off by picking up the papers and dumping them (or recycling them for $.08 a pound). He gets a flat fee weekly to distribute and we have audited and found no papers at the locations that he is telling us he is selling at. Thieving dirtbag!
The reason I was up there was because we were trying to determine if a guy we have contracted to distribute one of our publications is just ripping us off by picking up the papers and dumping them (or recycling them for $.08 a pound). He gets a flat fee weekly to distribute and we have audited and found no papers at the locations that he is telling us he is selling at. Thieving dirtbag!
June 25, 2008
Not Just Gas Prices
I had a meeting with the business agent from my local, one of the other shop stewards and the company lawyer where I work. We were discussing the issue of our health and welfare fund and how to keep it in the black. By August the reserve that is used to cover the cost of our healthcare subscription will have run out. In order to maintain coverage we can do one of two things: pay the $350 a month increase out of our own pocket or go to a plan with less coverage and only pay $240 more a month. Pick your poison.
My personal preference is to maintain the higher level of coverage. It's a big hit on the wallet, yes. At this stage of life it's essential. When I was younger I would always complain of how much of our raise we would divert to the health and welfare fund. I rarely got so much as a cold. "I want that money in my pocket", I would say. The old-timers that were near retirement were bitterly opposed to keeping the raise and accepting less coverage. Twenty years later, I understand why.
One of the main reasons I declined the job offer I received from the Union Pacific Railroad back in May '08 was the costs related health care coverage. They talked about $20 doctor co-pays and $10 prescriptions. That alone would have a huge impact on my wage. I would have been taking a pay cut if I was hired and on top of that I would have the huge increase in helthcare costs. The math didn't figure in my favor. It would have been a real hardship to have accepted the job and left my current one.
I don't know the exact number of contractual raises where we have diverted most or all of it to the health and welfare fund but I can say it's been most of the raises in the last four years. The membership meetings that we have when we vote on whether to divert funds or not are always contentious. The young guys only think about the paycheck. Not that us old-timers don't, it's just that the young guys are not thinking about the benefits of the incredibly good healthcare coverage we have. Our business agent said that the only group in the local to still be on Plan 1A (the cadillac plan) is Young's Market Co. Young's is a statewide operation, essentially a monopoly on liquor distribution.
The bottom line is I'm going to have to hope that the other old-timers here will show up to the membership meeting and opt to keep the current plan. Personally, I'm willing to bear that extra cost because I believe that the plan with lesser coverage, in the long run, would lead to much higher out of pocket expenses. I would love to be proven wrong!
On a happier note....gas just went down four cents a gallon to $4.45 yesterday!
My personal preference is to maintain the higher level of coverage. It's a big hit on the wallet, yes. At this stage of life it's essential. When I was younger I would always complain of how much of our raise we would divert to the health and welfare fund. I rarely got so much as a cold. "I want that money in my pocket", I would say. The old-timers that were near retirement were bitterly opposed to keeping the raise and accepting less coverage. Twenty years later, I understand why.
One of the main reasons I declined the job offer I received from the Union Pacific Railroad back in May '08 was the costs related health care coverage. They talked about $20 doctor co-pays and $10 prescriptions. That alone would have a huge impact on my wage. I would have been taking a pay cut if I was hired and on top of that I would have the huge increase in helthcare costs. The math didn't figure in my favor. It would have been a real hardship to have accepted the job and left my current one.
I don't know the exact number of contractual raises where we have diverted most or all of it to the health and welfare fund but I can say it's been most of the raises in the last four years. The membership meetings that we have when we vote on whether to divert funds or not are always contentious. The young guys only think about the paycheck. Not that us old-timers don't, it's just that the young guys are not thinking about the benefits of the incredibly good healthcare coverage we have. Our business agent said that the only group in the local to still be on Plan 1A (the cadillac plan) is Young's Market Co. Young's is a statewide operation, essentially a monopoly on liquor distribution.
The bottom line is I'm going to have to hope that the other old-timers here will show up to the membership meeting and opt to keep the current plan. Personally, I'm willing to bear that extra cost because I believe that the plan with lesser coverage, in the long run, would lead to much higher out of pocket expenses. I would love to be proven wrong!
On a happier note....gas just went down four cents a gallon to $4.45 yesterday!
June 10, 2008
Hired For My Dream Job
Well, sort of.
For roughly the last 10 months I have rekindled my interest in all things railroads. Around February I had actually put in an application at the Union Pacific Railroad website. There were openings for "Train Crew Service" in Watsonville, Milpitas and Oakland. I had applied for all three to see what would transpire. I received an invitation to a reading comprehension test in April. I took the test scoring eighty five percent. It was a twenty question test to be completed in thirty minutes. Essentially you read from the freight handlers manual and then chose the appropriate answer. It was an interesting experience since this was a completely foreign area of knowledge for me.
A couple of weeks after I took the test I received an invitation to a hiring session at the Santa Cruz/Scott's Valley Hilton. They gave the lowdown on what the job was all about. Even though I had applied for specific locations, the job actually was a position in the Roseville service area. The geographic points of this service area stretched from Klamath at the Oregon border on the north side down to San Luis Obispo in the south and east to Winnemucca, Nevada. Once your training was over after about 8 weeks, you "mark up". You then bid with your seniority on open positions. Since you have little to no seniority, you may wind up bidding on a slot in Winnemucca, Nevada. You have 48 hours to report (on your own dime, I might add) to the location and find a place to stay. Admittedly, our HR rep doing the information session said a lot of folks sleep in their cars when they first arrive at their new location. However, there is a caveat. You could be on the way to this Winnemucca location and your cell phone could ring. It's the Crewmaster telling you you've been bumped off your newlty aquired position. Time to find a new job to bid on. You find an open shift in Bakersfield. Nine hours into your drive to get there, your phone rings again. Guess what? You've been bumped again. The process starts over. To top things off, you haven't even worked yet so you are not getting paid for any of this. The example is a worst case scenario but it could happen.
There is also a chance that once your training is over you could be furloughed because there are no open positions available. Accarding to the HR rep, thirty percent of the Union Pacific workforce is retiring in the next five years. That would seem to be good odds for moving up in seniority rather quickly. That doesn't mean that the service area you apply for has openings already. They may be hiring to prepare for future retirements.
The discussion also involved benefits. They spoke of co-pays for medical and prescriptions. Currently mine are infinitesmal compared to the described benefits of UP. The kicker was the vacation accrual. After two years you get a week. Nothing out of the ordinary. Four years, two weeks. Nine years, three weeks. Seventeen years for four weeks. Last but not least, twenty-five years years before you get five weeks. This may sound like a good deal to some. To me it was the straw that broke the camels back. I thought long and hard about taking a pay cut. I figured I could do it. I thought about the co-pays for doctor visits and prescriptions. That would hurt a lot. The vacation schedule put a nail in the coffin of my dream job. With the inconvieniences and disruptions in your life and that of your family, the adjustment I would have to make to accept my dream job offer was more than I could handle.
At least I can say I got hired for my dream job! I'll have to keep my part-time "job" as a foamer for now!
(edit 7/22/08) The title link takes you to an article by a fellow blogger, railfan, photographer and general rabel rouser that has been in the same situation regarding jobs.
For roughly the last 10 months I have rekindled my interest in all things railroads. Around February I had actually put in an application at the Union Pacific Railroad website. There were openings for "Train Crew Service" in Watsonville, Milpitas and Oakland. I had applied for all three to see what would transpire. I received an invitation to a reading comprehension test in April. I took the test scoring eighty five percent. It was a twenty question test to be completed in thirty minutes. Essentially you read from the freight handlers manual and then chose the appropriate answer. It was an interesting experience since this was a completely foreign area of knowledge for me.
A couple of weeks after I took the test I received an invitation to a hiring session at the Santa Cruz/Scott's Valley Hilton. They gave the lowdown on what the job was all about. Even though I had applied for specific locations, the job actually was a position in the Roseville service area. The geographic points of this service area stretched from Klamath at the Oregon border on the north side down to San Luis Obispo in the south and east to Winnemucca, Nevada. Once your training was over after about 8 weeks, you "mark up". You then bid with your seniority on open positions. Since you have little to no seniority, you may wind up bidding on a slot in Winnemucca, Nevada. You have 48 hours to report (on your own dime, I might add) to the location and find a place to stay. Admittedly, our HR rep doing the information session said a lot of folks sleep in their cars when they first arrive at their new location. However, there is a caveat. You could be on the way to this Winnemucca location and your cell phone could ring. It's the Crewmaster telling you you've been bumped off your newlty aquired position. Time to find a new job to bid on. You find an open shift in Bakersfield. Nine hours into your drive to get there, your phone rings again. Guess what? You've been bumped again. The process starts over. To top things off, you haven't even worked yet so you are not getting paid for any of this. The example is a worst case scenario but it could happen.
There is also a chance that once your training is over you could be furloughed because there are no open positions available. Accarding to the HR rep, thirty percent of the Union Pacific workforce is retiring in the next five years. That would seem to be good odds for moving up in seniority rather quickly. That doesn't mean that the service area you apply for has openings already. They may be hiring to prepare for future retirements.
The discussion also involved benefits. They spoke of co-pays for medical and prescriptions. Currently mine are infinitesmal compared to the described benefits of UP. The kicker was the vacation accrual. After two years you get a week. Nothing out of the ordinary. Four years, two weeks. Nine years, three weeks. Seventeen years for four weeks. Last but not least, twenty-five years years before you get five weeks. This may sound like a good deal to some. To me it was the straw that broke the camels back. I thought long and hard about taking a pay cut. I figured I could do it. I thought about the co-pays for doctor visits and prescriptions. That would hurt a lot. The vacation schedule put a nail in the coffin of my dream job. With the inconvieniences and disruptions in your life and that of your family, the adjustment I would have to make to accept my dream job offer was more than I could handle.
At least I can say I got hired for my dream job! I'll have to keep my part-time "job" as a foamer for now!
September 05, 2007
Out Of The Closet
One thing I have always wanted to do since I was a kid was be an engineer. I think even now if I could make a go of it I would consider doing it. I've always been fascinated by trains. Not sure what an entry level engineer would make, but it's got to be an amazing job!
Construction on the new Benicia bridge, Benicia, California.
February 14, 2007
Thanks Joe!
Hat tip to Joe for the freebie advert! I appreciate the glowing remarks on my "skills" around the house. I must say that it's been 20 years since I have been actively doing any sort of construction/remodel work and the details definitely seem to fade with time.
On the sleep thing....I had mentioned a bit of insomnia the other day. Well, last night I woke up 45 minutes into my shift! I had been to a doctor appointment and had put my phone on vibrate. I do that because a certain fellow employee/friend tends to call, it seems, at the most in-opportune times. I never changed the ringer after the doctor and at two o'clock this morning I had that adrenaline rush wake-up. I looked at the clock and......@!%$?*&. I'm not sure exactly why I woke up from a sound sleep without an alarm clock. I popped awake like I had been startled by something and it was not the phone.
A couple of the guys had left a few voicemail messages for me on my cell. I called an asked if I had been replaced (secretly hoping I had been!) and was told "no". Begrudgingly I made my way in to work. Fortunately Wednesday is a small day paper-wise. There were only two sections to distribute so they were not short handed. There were still three guys distributing even without me being there.
Enough chatter, I've got another job to go to...yee haa!!
On the sleep thing....I had mentioned a bit of insomnia the other day. Well, last night I woke up 45 minutes into my shift! I had been to a doctor appointment and had put my phone on vibrate. I do that because a certain fellow employee/friend tends to call, it seems, at the most in-opportune times. I never changed the ringer after the doctor and at two o'clock this morning I had that adrenaline rush wake-up. I looked at the clock and......@!%$?*&. I'm not sure exactly why I woke up from a sound sleep without an alarm clock. I popped awake like I had been startled by something and it was not the phone.
A couple of the guys had left a few voicemail messages for me on my cell. I called an asked if I had been replaced (secretly hoping I had been!) and was told "no". Begrudgingly I made my way in to work. Fortunately Wednesday is a small day paper-wise. There were only two sections to distribute so they were not short handed. There were still three guys distributing even without me being there.
Enough chatter, I've got another job to go to...yee haa!!
February 08, 2007
Old Age...
Grief from a fellow blogger. The worst kind of harassment. My sparse posting has his panties in a bunch. I guess it would be because I got him into this whole shabang. So, to appease my nagging compatriot, I will post. No guarantees of anything substantive.
It must be old age (insert age here). I got home from work today and was completely exhausted. It was my second day back after a ten day vacation. I think one's body becomes accustomed to waking up when the sun is up and going to bed when it's not. Unfortunately in the newspaper business, that is the opposite of what needs to occur in order for the job to get done. I decided at 2pm that I was just going to go to sleep until I had to get up and go to work around midnight. I was apologetic to my wife but she understood. I had only spent about an hour with her before retreating to the bedroom. I was sleeping great until about 6:15 when the call of nature got me out of bed. I think I was out of the bed for no more than 2 minutes when all was said and done. I crawled back under the covers and was wide awake. I laid there for about 20 minutes until I was completely frustrated. I normally can fall asleep in under 5 minutes. At that point I gave up and went out to the living room to a surprised look from my wife. I explained what happened and we talked for a bit in hopes of returning to sleepville. Nothing....
At 6:55 I took a Melatonin and went back to bed at 7:30 with hopes of falling right to sleep. At 8:45pm I got up and decided I was up for the day (my day, normal peoples night). Unfortunately it's a two job day today So when I get home around 6:00pm tonight I will have been up for 24 hours. That's always healthy!
Anyhoo... I thought I would post a couple pics of the ongoing kitchen remodel. The project started out as a dishwasher replacement. However, at each step in the process there were damage or other things discovered that necessitated a replacement of this or that. Now that I will have an entirely new kitchen, I might as well enjoy the work I've put into it. That work has mostly occurred during vacations (which are not intended for work apparently).
This shot is of the end of the cabinet in the kitchen (right) and the small cabinet by the pantry in the dining room (left). The backsplash and corner aren't finished in this pic.
It must be old age (insert age here). I got home from work today and was completely exhausted. It was my second day back after a ten day vacation. I think one's body becomes accustomed to waking up when the sun is up and going to bed when it's not. Unfortunately in the newspaper business, that is the opposite of what needs to occur in order for the job to get done. I decided at 2pm that I was just going to go to sleep until I had to get up and go to work around midnight. I was apologetic to my wife but she understood. I had only spent about an hour with her before retreating to the bedroom. I was sleeping great until about 6:15 when the call of nature got me out of bed. I think I was out of the bed for no more than 2 minutes when all was said and done. I crawled back under the covers and was wide awake. I laid there for about 20 minutes until I was completely frustrated. I normally can fall asleep in under 5 minutes. At that point I gave up and went out to the living room to a surprised look from my wife. I explained what happened and we talked for a bit in hopes of returning to sleepville. Nothing....
At 6:55 I took a Melatonin and went back to bed at 7:30 with hopes of falling right to sleep. At 8:45pm I got up and decided I was up for the day (my day, normal peoples night). Unfortunately it's a two job day today So when I get home around 6:00pm tonight I will have been up for 24 hours. That's always healthy!
Anyhoo... I thought I would post a couple pics of the ongoing kitchen remodel. The project started out as a dishwasher replacement. However, at each step in the process there were damage or other things discovered that necessitated a replacement of this or that. Now that I will have an entirely new kitchen, I might as well enjoy the work I've put into it. That work has mostly occurred during vacations (which are not intended for work apparently).
This shot is of the end of the cabinet in the kitchen (right) and the small cabinet by the pantry in the dining room (left). The backsplash and corner aren't finished in this pic.
This is a shot of the front view of the small cabinet next to the pantry that was shown on the left in the last picture.
These are the "mural" tiles that will be on the backsplash of the cabinet pictured above.
I will be insanely happy when this project is finished. Back when I worked for a general contractor, this was the type of stuff that we did all the time. That was nearly 20 years ago and your skills and knowledge of the little details necessary to do an excellent job fade over time. I am unfortunately a stickler for doing things right. That can work against you at times. There have been some projects that never got completed because I knew I couldn't do the job "perfectly". Talk about a self-defeating problem!
I like the easier projects where you just break things. For example when I tore down my patio cover....
January 27, 2007
Vacation, and not a moment too soon!
After I punch out this morning I have 10 glorious days off! Well, I guess I can't really categorize them as glorious since I will be doing things like re-tiling and grouting my kitchen counter tops, painting and possibly even re-doing the floor in one of my bathrooms. Maybe I should just stay at work and not take the vacation?
I might get to a few more postings on vacation than I do in a regular work week (or month). Joe would probably say that any post is more than I do now. If I could only achieve one tenth of the posts that Joe does, I would be a better man for it.
Just a quick link as I get out of here. Oliver North has a great piece on the politicians who just don't care about the outcome in Iraq.
I might get to a few more postings on vacation than I do in a regular work week (or month). Joe would probably say that any post is more than I do now. If I could only achieve one tenth of the posts that Joe does, I would be a better man for it.
Just a quick link as I get out of here. Oliver North has a great piece on the politicians who just don't care about the outcome in Iraq.
January 09, 2007
I Need a New Job.....
....because this one's gonna kill me. Between the back pain, tendonitis, crazy hours and lack of sleep, I'm going to be pushing up daisies long before my time. Anyone have a sweet, low impact, non aerobic, cranial type position they need filled?
I was off for a couple of months on an injury. During that period of time I was able to see how real folks lived. Get up after the sun comes up, go to bed after it goes down. Those are a couple of the basic necessities of life that I don't get to do very often. Because of the type of job I have, it requires that I start work just after 1:00 am every day. These hours are not condusive to reasonable human activity. I've done this work just shy of two decades and it just doesn't get easier. While I'm griping, I might as well complain about the lack of any type of social life. Since my alarm goes off around midnight, those casual evening get togethers with friends and family are either cut short or skipped all-together. I'm generally going to bed before the pre-teens in the neighborhood and leaving for work while the unemployed neighbors are still partying on the porch.
I think that's probably enough complaining for one post. I should be grateful that I have a job. I could be like my unemployed neighbors, partying all night!
I was off for a couple of months on an injury. During that period of time I was able to see how real folks lived. Get up after the sun comes up, go to bed after it goes down. Those are a couple of the basic necessities of life that I don't get to do very often. Because of the type of job I have, it requires that I start work just after 1:00 am every day. These hours are not condusive to reasonable human activity. I've done this work just shy of two decades and it just doesn't get easier. While I'm griping, I might as well complain about the lack of any type of social life. Since my alarm goes off around midnight, those casual evening get togethers with friends and family are either cut short or skipped all-together. I'm generally going to bed before the pre-teens in the neighborhood and leaving for work while the unemployed neighbors are still partying on the porch.
I think that's probably enough complaining for one post. I should be grateful that I have a job. I could be like my unemployed neighbors, partying all night!
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