Perpetual Ruminations

Friday

Lazy day. It's my last day off this week, and I'm enjoying a very lazy day. It's a bit gray out, but at least a light gray, the winds are calm (for South Dakota, anyway), and it's pretty warm out. Not as warm as it should be, but warmer than it has been.

I enjoyed a day of fishing yesterday and have three nice sized Pike in the fridge waiting to be cleaned. No, they are not whole fish, the heads and entrails have been removed, they have been washed down, and they are soaking in a mild salt brine. I will fillet them out in a little while.

I have a little bit of paper work to do up yet today, but other than that, it's been a nice three days off with no interruptions for work. That tends to be a rare thing lately, if it's not someone getting in trouble, not able to get to work, or unable to clock in or out, they are calling for time off. Always it seems, there is something to invade my time off. So, on days like these last three, when there is none, it is very much enjoyed and very restful.

I did work pretty hard on Wednesday, along with my wife. Even so, it was enjoyable. Some of the work was around the place, and sure hauling garbage is anything but enjoyable, but working together with a wonderful woman makes even these unpleasant tasks pleasant.

After, we did some shopping, which is always a fun experience with her, then we returned home and worked on a fish shelter I just bought -- used, but in pretty good shape. After we enjoyed a quiet evening together and a passionate interlude before going to sleep in each others arms. I should say, spending some time in each others arms after the passion, then spooning as we drift into sleep.

Yesterday we had a nice morning together, then she got ready for work, I got ready for fishing and trying out the fish shelter. I dropped her off then headed to the lake and met up with my brother. We set up next to each other, but it was too windy to leave the shelter doors open. Even so, we could talk and interact easily enough. I enjoyed using my own shelter for a change, especially with the memories of me and my wife working together getting it ready.

I also caught some fish, missed even more, and enjoyed visiting with my brother. Even though the weather does not indicate it, our ice fishing season will be over very soon. Once the cold moves out it will melt fast enough. Even if we have a cold spring, lots of late storms and more snow, the days are getting long enough and the sun hot enough that the ice will begin to soften and become unsafe to go out on.

After fishing, I went to my brother's house for dinner, after we cleaned fish and talked, then I cleaned up and drove over to pick my wife up from work. She was done minutes after I got over there, and we had a nice conversation on the way home. Some bad news came with it, they had cut her hours even more, but even this is expected anymore.

She used to get close to forty, just shy enough to keep her from being full time. Then, when I began work, I was on nights and she was anywhere they decided to put her, early mornings, late nights, and even a few overnights. This just did not work, and we ran the hell out of our single vehicle (we have twenty-five miles to drive each way). It was an older car and just wore out. We had to hurry and find another vehicle, with little money and not much choice.

We did find a nice van, a Ford Windstar, but it too is an older vehicle and has a lot of miles on it. With limited money and resources, there was not much choice. After we purchased the van, and arranged for repayments of a personal loan on it, her hours changed drastically. Now, we had talked and she had put in a request for hours closer to mine pior to the purchase, and they had been met and not affected her time.

After we purchased, they cut her hours way back, and began to schedule her later than she had listed as available. We put up with it, even though it meant I would have to wait sometimes up to two and a half hours for her to get done. We needed the money and that was that.

As winter set in, they began to adjust her hours and schedule every week. They did stay within part of her limits by never asking or scheduling her to work earlier than one in the afternoon. But, there was no longer any set time for her to start work. Not daily, weekly, or by any pattern at all. Her start times fluctuated anywhere from one in the afternoon, to five in the evening. She may start on the hour, half hour, or quarter after the hour, even quarter to the hour.

It was just all over the place, and the only thing consistent in her schedule is the fact that it would never be the same. For example, one day this week she works from 3:00 until 10:00, then the very next day it's 3:00 until 10:30. Today it's 5:30 to 10:30. Also, in the process of introducing total chaos to the schedule, they cut her hours down from an average of thirty-two hours a week to twenty-four hours a week.

Of course, if they were short on help or in need, they would schedule her for more hours that week, but then the next would be even shorter to ensure she did not get any more than an average of about twenty-four hours per week.

With the winter came winter storms and bad driving conditions. With twenty-five miles to drive, even fifteen minutes can make a difference in having poor roads to drive on and no travel advised. In the past, management would send out-of-town people home first in bad weather. Not anymore; in fact, many town people leave on schedule and she is expected to stay as late as they need her. We talked and made another decision, even though we knew it would cut her hours even more. She would change her hours of availability to match mine, nine-thirty. This would not change much, since most days she was done by then. There was usually one day they kept her till ten at night, and Saturdays was always eleven. Of course, there were other nights she would be done at by seven on up to eight, or any combination around them.

We thought they could keep her later on these days, and let her leave early on the other two, making her hours about the same. The answer? No. They told her they could adjust her hours Monday through Friday to get done at nine, but they had to have her stay late on Saturday to do ad-take-down. What? No one else can do this? Besides, she put in for promotions for positions like this and was turned down and left as a cashier. In actuality then, they gave her the duties, but not the title or pay.

They also told her that if she made this change, it would cut her hours to less than twenty a week. We talked it over, and decided to put up with the rest and leave her hours as is, so we would not lose out on any more hours, and have less income. We were barely scraping by on what we had, we could not afford to have less. The next day, she went right in and told them, leave the hours as is, I cannot afford to work any less.

And since then, they have reduced her hours down to about twenty-two a week or less. They also made sure to mess up her start and stop times to conflict with my schedule every chance they could. My wife had explained to them what my schedule was and why she wanted to try and work as close to it as possible. She did question these changes and was told that it was not anything anyone was doing, it was all done automatically by computer.

Then, we had some plans to try and go see some relatives, but she would need to take a weekend off (she works every weekend but has Monday and Tuesday off). She asked for the time off and was answered with another no. No one would get weekends off anymore. Now, there are those who are not scheduled to work on weekends, that did not change, and there are others who do take a weekend off, and that did not change. It only seemed to apply to a select few. A few, who like my wife, had set specific hours they were available to work.

Some of these had other jobs and had to quit this one since they still, were scheduled to work days and times they just could not be there. Other's quit just because they refused to be forced to work hours they said they could not, and the rest just put up with it because they need the income. My wife fit in the last group, until yesterday.

She has been looking for another job, but it's slow this time of year and with the economy, it's almost dead. So she sticks with this company and we make do with the mess they create. Yesterday she got her next schedule, it's for less than twenty hours, nineteen to be exact. They cut her hours anyway, just for asking if they could change her availability.

Now, in the past, it was not this way. They did try and fit you in the hours your were available. They were good at giving time off if you put your request in soon enough, they let you switch shifts, and they would send you home early if the weather turned bad. They have turned completely contrary to this. One manager even came out and said, anyone who is not available to work any hours and any days, will be cut below twenty hours a week. Now it has happened. They do not want anyone to have a life outside of their job, it is a conflict.

We decided that it was time to end this madness and give her two week notice. Sure, she could just quit on the spot, but that is what they expect and the kind of action we expect from them. No, my wife wants to be better than that and do it right. How we will make do without her meager income will be difficult, but we will adjust and do what we have to. As it is, we do not have enough income to pay everything. We often do not have enough food on hand, and get by eating things most people would not think proper for dinner. We do what we have to.

Of course, her income is pretty meager as it stands, and we will save money on gas and food items used for lunches, but it will still mean we have less to survive on. We will trust it to a higher power, for us we are Christians, we put this in Our Lord's hands. She will have more time to look for work, and with the little income she had left anymore, it would not take much to match it.

She works tonight, and if the human relation person is in, she will give notice tonight, if not, as soon as she can. It is a bit stressful, but a relief at the same time. We see it as a need, she either needed to quit, or they would keep cutting hours and screwing up her schedule until she either quit or did something to get fired.

I have an opportunity to pick up a few more hours starting Sunday, and will take them as they come. Soon enough I will have even more available, and if need be, I will take them, too. Another month or so, and I change shifts and will almost double my hours, with the possibility of still working some extra to put me right up to forty or just under. It will more than make up for what she will miss out on, so we will be alright for the summer. Only one month then, that we will have to tighten our belts and pinch every penny.

Oh, and she has put in an application to work at the same place I do. Because I am the supervisor there, it is contrary to policy, but since it is a temporary position for the summer, it may get approved. We will watch and see. That would buy us more time for her to find another position. If she is not, we will accept the policy and she will have ample time to look for something else. So, then, one month to hold out~