Perpetual Ruminations

Wednesday

Just finishing up two days off, and what do I have to show for the time? Not much. Don't misunderstand, I enjoyed the two days off, and I did get rested up. But what else did I get accomplished? Again, not much.

I slept in the first day off, then relaxed with coffee and conversation with my beautiful wife. Not something we have time for except on our days off, so not wasted time at all. After, we set things up and did a Bible Study. Again, time well spent. Of course, our hour study often runs over some, but that's the benefit of doing our Bible Study on disc. Well, that and our church is not within driving distance. But, even if it was, our schedule would prevent us from participating in the Bible Studies most days.

Another high point of doing our study on disc, we can stop and discuss things as they come up, we can pause if needed, so we don't miss anything if nature calls, and we can take time to get our notes correctly written. The down side is the time it takes to complete a lesson. But, considering the amount of time I have been granted for everything else, I feel the time spent in worship is minimal.

That brings up the rest of the time, and where it goes. Part of the day yesterday, after the above mentioned activities, was spent preparing dinner. We had our meal planned out, but part of it required us making the sauces. One was a hot-wing sauce, and the other was a barbecue sauce. We had some ideas of how we wanted to make both of these, but as of the time we started, that was all we had, the idea.

We started with the hot-wing sauce, which turned out very good. We don't enjoy too much heat, and like to have a lot of side flavor with the toned down heat. So, we used an idea based on the barbecue sauce we would be creating, but altered it some. We had the base sauce down in short time, but then needed to add some spice to the mix. We both like a lot of spice, but Rhonda likes her hotness lower than mine. Even mine is pretty mild by most standards, so this was not a problem.

We ended up with a pretty good flavor, but decided that we need to tune the cumin down more, as well as to make it a bit less sweet. Even so, it was good, and we enjoyed the "hot-wings" after they were done. I say hot wings, but they are not wings at all; we use chicken breasts, cut into bite size portions.

Next, we created our barbecue sauce. This was based on a sauce we made for use as a steak sauce. It used the same basic sauce base as the hot-wing sauce, but from there, it was quite a bit different. Again, we made a mild sauce, as far as heat, but it did provide a lot of flavor and spiciness. It turned out terrific, and will need no adjustments at all.

Now, understand, we create many of our own recipes. There are a few reasons, one being we just enjoy good food and enjoy creating them together. Of course, this means using existing recipes as well as making up our own. We enjoy creating them as much as we enjoy the foods that result, and we also are both trying to lose some excess weight, so we also work on creating low calorie recipes, or at least reduced calorie ones. Not all the time, but quite often.

Of course, this is again time well spent, but by the time the creating is done, it's time to get cooking the main foods, and most of the afternoon is gone. While dinner cooked, we did get some Christmas decorating done, and we both enjoyed our time shared together very much. After dinner was done, we enjoyed the bounty of our hard work, then retired to the living room to relax and take in some television. After, we sipped on brandy and listened to a bunch of our favorite Christmas songs, while enjoying the Christmas lights we had put up earlier.

That was the first day, and it was a terrific day; a very enjoyable and fulfilling day. But, there were other tasks I had wanted to get to, as well as activities I enjoy and want to squeeze in. Unfortunately there is more to do than there is time to do it in. I know this is something that does happen. It is something I have been trying to overcome and change. It isn't something that happens once in a while, but always.

So, there was also today, and again, it went about the same. A good day, but not enough time to do much of the things I want to do with my time off. It's the same on the days I work, I get done early, and should be able to do so much, but it just doesn't seem to work. Time runs out long before I have the time spent on the things I want.

It is something I will continue to work at. I know if I get better organized I will have more time. I also know I need to schedule, to utilize my time allotments properly. Unfortunately, there seems to be a constant conflict with my time and work time. That is what messes things up the most. I do not remember the last time I had time off, whether two days or a week, that work did not interfere. Even this two day stretch had a work call come in. I ignored it, and figured if it was important, the person would call back, or would have left a message, but the damage is done just by having the phone ring and seeing it's from work.

I have to stop and see who is calling, or check later after finishing what I was doing. Then, it's a matter of checking for text messages and going into my voice-mail. If there are no messages, I can return to my day off, but even so, my mind is now partially occupied with the reason I was called, and what I will find when I get to work.

It's -- using terminology from times long past -- a real bummer, man. I just wish I could get paid what it should be worth for this kind of job, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon, either. It makes it difficult, but I know it's not impossible, so I continue trying and hoping.

Now, it's time for dinner, then a little relaxation for the evening. I have to retire early tonight, since I will be up at three in the morning, and I'm a bit concerened over that call. We had an audit on Tuesday, and I know the night shift did fine, but I'm not sure about the opening guard. I can understand if he may have had some difficulties, since he is relatively new yet. But, my biggest concern is the afternoon guard, who has been with us for almost a year.

He is smart enough, yet seems to just not care. He is anything but professional, and if there is a problem, he seems to be in the midst of it. So, a call, but no message, and an audit, but I have not heard any results. What will the next few days bring? Possibly, not anything serious at all, but then again, it could be that I may have to remove someone and give up my days off to fill the position until we can get another guard hired.

I start having three days a week off next week, and until I change the schedule, it will stay that way throughout the winter. But, if someone messes up, I won't have any choice except to change that. This has been the way it's worked since I took this job, and even before I was the supervisor. Back then, it was my boss dumping it on me, instead of being responsible and filling in himself. Now, it's my responsibility to fill the position, and unlike my boss, I give the other workers as much choice in this as is possible.

So, if they don't want to pick up any more hours, or in most cases, it doesn't fit their schedules outside of work, I have to reschedule myself.