Perpetual Ruminations

Sunday

"Well, there it is." Emperor Joseph II in Amadeus (1984). Just another of my favored quotes.

Yes, it is the last day of the weekend for some, the first day of the week for others. Me? Sunday is the first day of the week, of course. Our pay cycle begins on Sundays, our work week begins on Sundays, and our calendar starts each week with Sunday.

That means there is only one day for the weekend, which only makes sense. The week does not end twice, it ends just once, on Saturday. It also means that Monday is not such an evil entity as well. Many see Monday as the beginning of the new week, and the end of the weekend. Both very negative, and so not any good.

But Monday is not the beginning of the week, Sunday is, and for many it is a day off. So, on a positive note, The week starts with a day off. Want a double positive charge? The week begins and ends with a day off. Now, you can't do much better than that. Wait, yes we can. Not only does every week start and end with a day off, but they come end to end; at the end of the week, you get a day off, then the next week starts, but you get that day off, too.

I know, it's just another way of saying the same thing. Only, instead of a two day weekend, I have a one day weekend and a one day week beginning. Which, as I pointed out, is more correct, since the second day of the week is no longer the beginning, it is the continuation.

For me, it makes no difference, since I work every other Saturday and Sunday. I also get every other Monday and Tuesday off, on the weeks I work Saturday and Sunday. On the weeks I do work Monday and Tuesday, I get Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off. Well, at least for now. That will all change soon, I hope. At least that is the plan.

Now, a break to eat lunch, then perhaps I can come back and write a bit more, or if not, I may be able to write a bit more later tonight. It all depends on time.

Well, there it is.

And, here is some more, since I do have a bit more time now and may not have any later. That is the way it has been going around here, for quite a while now. See, everything is rushed, so much gets postponed until later, but then later, there is not any time to do the things postponed. So again, they get put off for a future date when there will be some time to take care of them, only as each day comes, there never is the time needed. Even on the few occasions where there is time, there is so much to do there is not time.

Now, after reading how I get three days off one week and four the next, you wonder how that can be? I do, too. I can explain a bit of it; I am a supervisor for a security company, with our corporate office about two hundred miles away. We provide non-armed security for a retailer, not in store, but in the lumbar yard. We have a small guardhouse that we man from opening until closing, but it is not a real busy store, so much of the time we only have one guard on duty at a time. In the summer, we do run two guards from Friday through Monday, but only for six hours each day; this is labeled as double coverage, and is a temporary position.

I just started this job, and career last spring, in May. I also just became supervisor in August, so all this is established prior to my employment. We have just enough people to cover each shift the way it is set up, with two of us on the schedule I mentioned above, alternating weeks, of course. We are designated as fill in for any shift not covered, and can, if needed fill the double coverage, too. It makes for very little time off when this happens, but that's how it was set up.

Now, my first task when promoted to supervisor, was to fire the double coverage person. I managed to convince her to resign on the spot instead, leaving with out getting fired. Better for everyone involved. Up to this point, the other supervisor was playing patsy with my counter part, giving her any time off she asked for. But, he did not give me any extra hours, he would manipulate the schedule so that we both got the same hours every pay period. The problem with this was, I never knew when I would have time off, it changed with each and every schedule.

I try and set up personal matters, appointments, camping, fishing, biking, what have you, on my days off. I did, too. Only, my schedule would change and I would have to now work on the day I had plans for. I was frustrated, angry, and ready to quit myself. Only the company offered me the position of supervisor at this time and it gave me the power to control this. Well to some degree. I would still have to fill in for others on occasion, but at least I could schedule it in advance and know what was going on. Also, if I did have plans, I could schedule changes with others to make it all work.

In addition, after whats-her-name got fired/quit, the person stirring things up became pretty quiet. In fact they all did for a while. We, me and my counter part, the employee who was always in need of time off, we'll call her Missy, for missing so much, had to provide the double coverage, since it was close to time for the position to come to an end and the company did not want to hire again.

This was fine, very little time off, but no one asked for any time off and all went pretty well. By fall, the double coverage ended, and requests for time off began to come in. Not a lot, but a few. No problem, with the double coverage over, there was plenty of hours available to fill in. Also, Missy wanted as many hours as possible. I gave her as many as I could, and she asked for more.

Then, winter hit. Missy told me she could work any time, any day, she did not do anything in the winter. She lives in town, less than a half mile from the site. The first storm hit, and my opening guard, who has thirty plus miles to drive, was unable to make it. No travel advised. I called Missy, she could not get out of the parking lot. I told her to call a cab, she could not, she was baby-sitting. I drove twenty five miles to cover the shift. Each time weather stopped traffic, I called, she always had an excuse to not make it in, and every time, I covered. In fact, once, after I had covered the opening shift, the second shift person called, she was stuck and could not get out until after someone opened up a trail, or her boyfriend got home with the truck. Yes, she had tried to get through in a low riding little car.

I called Missy, but she could not get out, too much snow for her truck. It was, after all, only two-wheel drive and she did not even have a shovel. the second shift person was called back, come in after your boyfriend comes home and work to closing. That shift, by the way, was Missy's. Sure, give her all the hours I can, but unfortunately, she never could make it.

When someone needed a day off, Missy was always willing to work their shift. I would schedule it and notify her, and she was fine with it then. But, if she worked one day for second shift, or for opening, then she would ask for a day off in conjunction with her three day off cycle. She even told me once that she would like to have the schedule changed so she could work a week and then take a week off. She also let is slip that she had another job she did on her days off. She had told me she baby-sat her grandchild sometimes, but this was something else. She did not say, but she used to do house cleaning on the side, so I assume this is what it is.

Over the winter, it stayed constant, but at least it was my end of week days off or weekends. See, my wife, Rhonda, works every day except Mondays and Tuesdays. So, we have every other Monday and Tuesday off for us. Four days a month, that's it. Well, Missy began to request Mondays off after payday. She also had payday weekend off, so it was a nice three day weekend with money. I changed the schedule, now she works that weekend and I have it off. End of problem, right? No.

She still insisted on taking Monday or Tuesday off. I talked to her and explained why this was not good. She didn't stop long enough to listen, just began with the empty excuses. She also was not putting her request in soon enough. I ask for two weeks, and she was always right on the line or past it. She would, for instance, put in a request exactly two weeks before the day, but it would be while I was on my three day off stretch. She would not call or notify me in any way. I would come in, and it would be tacked to the board for me, now less than two weeks.

I put a firm no in to her, and denied her request. She complains to the management of the store we work at. Not to me, she is not talking to me unless she absolutely has to. We do not work for the store, we are a separate company, hired to provide security. Oh well, that's a whole different story.

Anyway, you can see then, how even with lots of time off, I have to forfeit much of it for work. I have my shift, I get paid while working it, on site, and anything else, like scheduling and paperwork, disciplinary action, and reviews, I do on my time off the clock. This also takes a way some of my off time, and with her always adding to the work, it becomes even more. If I need to talk to her, I drive in on my off time, talk to her, and do not get reimbursed for any of it. That is the system, and if we work together, it is not bad, but if they don't, it can absorb a lot of my off time.

It also adds a lot of stress, which burns up time. Now, add in my wife's schedule, which is always in conflict, and the fact that we now have only one vehicle, and you can begin to see. If I have time off, I spend it working from home, filling in for other workers, or in waiting for my wife before and or, after work.

This and the stress has become a big negative and we find ourselves not even trying to utilize our time right anymore. Kind of depressing in itself, which adds more to it, and then trying to work with people to correct some of it, only to have them make it even worse, and it's just a mess. Chaos!

We do not make enough to quite pay everything. We did, up to and when I became supervisor, then my wife's schedule became even more messed up and there just was no way we could cover it all. She put in a change for the times she could work, and they followed them some, but they cut her at least ten hours a pay check. We had our car up and die, needed to get another vehicle, and borrowed to do it. They cut a few more hours. We went to a winter schedule, so I got done sooner. She ahd been getting done the same time, but they now extended her hours. More hours more pay, right?

Not! They also had her come in later, which conflicted with my hours. Try and talk to them again, more cuts. Talk the them about the cuts, and they say if you open up your hours of availability we can give you more hours. She did, and they did not. They only messed her schedule up more to make sure it was in no way close to mine, and cut more hours again. Then, without any warning, last week they cut her even more. That was it, she put in her notice and now in two weeks things will work better. but we will have a little less money.

Even today, it's clear, however, that it needs to be. I worked last night to nine-thirty. Then I waited for her till after eleven. She had not started work till three, I at one, she waited. Today, she starts at one, me at two. Tonight, I get done at eight, her at nine or nine-thirty. It's just more than we can deal with. They could have scheduled her hours this weekend just opposite and had her start at one yesterday, the same time as me. She could have worked till nine or ten as last weekend, when I did not work, but now it's eleven. Sundays? Well they do the same, if I work, she stays until about ten, if I do not work it, she is done by seven-thirty to eight-thirty. Sounds like they are doing it on purpose, especially since this has been brought to their attention a few times now.

If you read my blog, you will notice this is a constant problem I need to vent out. It is destroying my creativity, it is causing both of us problems, depression, and stress. It is time for it to end, so we can reclaim our life. As for the money, she is looking for work. Position is not high on the list, pay scale is not high on the scale, the main objective is to fine something that works with my schedule, which will soon be changing, if all takes place as it looks now.

If her hours and mine do not match, we can at least look for something that does not conflict. Then pay is the issue. If it pays well enough and gives enough hours that we can get a second vehicle, it will still work fine. One or the other, but hopefully both. For now, we tighten our belts, but we won't be giving much up, since they pretty well took it all over the winter anyway. We will have more time and less stress, that's the important thing.

Again then -- well, there it is.