Yes, another thing about work.....

 Well well well. Yet another work post. Will they never end? :)
Probably not...

   Recently, we've had yet another person let go. Just your standard No Call No Show. Seems that on a Wednesday, he called to say that his car wouldn't start. Okay, fine. But on Thursday and Friday, nothing. Not a call or text; just silence. Shows up on Monday, with no explanation. Seems that the contract service he belongs to (yes, we contract people for work, with the object to hire them eventually) didn't let him know not to come back, since there was no explanation at all for the absence. Our supervisor contacted them, and told them what was up, and to call him to tell him. They did, and he's gone.
   Now, another contract person - our last one, by the way - has pulled a few attendance 'tricks' as well: last minute call-ins, "Oh, I forgot to tell you", and the latest one: "I'll be there later. No, I don't know when." Followed up by: "I'll be there around 8:30." Then: "Nine o'clock." Then: "Stuck in traffic. When I get there I'll get there." Which he did. At 9:45.
   At the moment, he have someone out for medical issues; they should be back soon. But when people pull stuff like this, it screws us up and pushes other things back that we need to do.It doesn't help that these two still live at home, and don't need too much money it seems. The second person will probably be gone next week (just a thought). Which would not surprise me, but still screws us over. Attendance is IMPORTANT, people! just saying...
   
   Speaking of which...

I've mentioned before about our gift card program(which is currently on hold because of whining); it was just something our shop was doing. Now, though, the company has one in place that awards good attendance. Surprise, huh? The idea is, every quarter the names of people with good attendance are put together, and one is drawn. That person gets a $250 gift card. I've been in it the two times it's been done; missed out on the first, but won the second. It's company-wide, so you would think that with over 100 names, it would be difficult. But you'd be wrong.
   The first time, only 6 were eligible.
   The second time, 4.
   Now, this takes into account approved days off (like say, for a vacation). You'd be eligible for it for that. Call-ins, for being sick or otherwise, no. It's not that hard, people: show up, and you'd get a chance. But even then, people have a hard time at it.


   Some would fall back on the old "No one wants to work anymore!!!" thing, but I think it's more like "I want to earn money, but I want to do it my own way, without rules! You're lucky to have me here at all!" Well, no, we aren't. YOU'RE lucky we decided to give you a chance. Yes, there are rules, but they're there for a reason: to make sure you show up, and do the work you're here to do. You don't like it? Fine. Don
't be here then. Yes, it will inconvenience us, but we'll make it work. Just remember that eventually, you'll have to work *somewhere*. And follow their rules. Yes, it will be a pain, but if you're lucky, you'll benefit from it. Trust me.


   Failing that, good luck winning the lottery someday....

Requiescant in pace Reginae Elisabethae

     Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022)

Life's A Long Song

 

"Life Is A Long Song"

When you're falling awake and you take stock of the new day,
and you hear your voice croak as you choke on what you need to say,
well, don't you fret, don't you fear,
I will give you good cheer.

Life's a long song.
Life's a long song.
Life's a long song.

If you wait then your plate I will fill.

As the verses unfold and your soul suffers the long day,
and the twelve o'clock gloom spins the room,
you struggle on your way.
Well, don't you sigh, don't you cry,
lick the dust from your eye.

Life's a long song.
Life's a long song.
Life's a long song.

We will meet in the sweet light of dawn.

As the Baker Street train spills your pain all over your new dress,
and the symphony sounds underground put you under duress,
well don't you squeal as the heel grinds you under the wheel.

Life's a long song.
Life's a long song.
Life's a long song.

But the tune ends too soon for us all. 

 

            ----Ian Anderson

No-Cheat contract

    There's a woman on TikTok who has come up with a rather unique way to keep her fiancee on the straight and narrow: she's had a contract drawn up that says if he cheats on her, he has to pay all of her bills. You read that right. To quote from yahoo(dot)com:
 - “I have just reached a new level of crazy,” she stated. “I just made well, not made, he did it out of his own free will, but my fiance just signed a legal document and we got it notarized that if he cheats on me, he has to pay my bills.” She added, “I’m so smart or so crazy, I don’t know.”-

     Well, let me tell ya something....
  Personally, I only have one issue with this. If he willingly signed it, that's fine; that's on him. But, my way of thinking is, if *I* have to sign one, then *YOU* have to sign one, also. It's not a one-way street here. All or nothing; both, or none.

      Look, I'm not a cheater. It's just not in me. It's just a weird thing to me; if you feel the need to step out on the person you're with, just break up. It's obvious that at least one of you doesn't want to continue the relationship, so just end it. And don't use your kids as an excuse. Don't put them in the middle. Come to a workable, mutually beneficial agreement, and go your own ways. 

      Don't agree? That's fine. Whatever works for you, then that's okay. But don't try and make me sign a document that benefits you, if you're not going to do the same. Think of it as Mutually Assured Destruction: both sides are threatened, so both sides behave. If they have an issue with signing one, but want me to sign it, that tells me that they are either thinking about doing it themselves, or have already done it. Either way, I'm not doing it. If it ends the relationship, then it's probably for the best. If trust isn't there,  then the relationship isn't going to work. 

       If you don't trust me, how can I trust you?

Power out equals stupid people

    Recently, we've had a power outage. For a little over 50 hours - a quarter to six in the afternoon on Monday, August 29, until a little over eight in the evening on Wednesday, August 31 - we, along with over 500,000 people, lost power due to a wicked storm that blew through. Heavy rain and high winds doesn't play well with trees; they sometimes fall against power lines and people are in the dark. Luckily, we had some of our camping gear, so we had lights. Plus our stove is gas, so that helped. 

     What didn't, though, was our food. Eventually, we had to throw out everything we had: eggs, cheese, meat (our chest freezer was PACKED with stuff!)...you name it, it was tossed. :) So, of course, we went shopping. The only cold things we bought, we cooked the same day. Just like in Medieval times! :D

       After the power came back, we went shopping for more cold stuff to restock. But, before it came back, the traffic lights were out, so they were treated as four-way stops, complete with signs in place to help out the drivers. Except they didn't. 

      This is where the stupid comes in. If you think people are dangerous on the roads during normal times, they are worse when they are forced to be courteous. "Stop? Me? Nonsense!" Then they just zip right through, with no thoughts or concerns for the safety of the other drivers. Didn't see any accidents, but seen some close calls. I can honestly say, that if I had a junker car, there *may* have been a fender-bender or two happen. Allegedly.....

       I swear, whenever someone brings up the idea of the world being in an apocalypse, and they think that THEY will somehow survive and be in charge, I compare them to those drivers and think, "No you won't. You'll be among the first to be wiped out because you have absolutely no sense of self-preservation. You take too many risks to last more than a day."  And I just smile quietly to myself and take a mental inventory of their stuff, just in case I'll need something when it happens. 

      Because, hey, you never know......

Another one bites the dust...

   Recently, we've had another casualty at my work.
   Someone had their job review, and they weren't too happy with it. Seems that their job performance - while good - was the same as the last time they were reviewed. In other words, no improvement. They would complain about working in a different area, or take a little too much time to do something...you know, 'cruising' through, and not stepping up a bit. Their pay increase reflected it, as well; the minimum.
   The following day, he wasn't there. Supposedly, he had something to do. Slightly suspicious, but nothing we could do.
   The day after, though, when he was still not there, our supervisor said that his WIFE had called him the night before; yelling at him, cursing at him, accusing our work of trying to basically screw him over, etc. She also quit for him, as well. Yes, SHE quit HIS job for him. And, yes, he was a hired-in employee, so that makes it stranger.
    Now, I don't know if he wanted her to do it, or if she just decided to do it herself (She's a very strong-minded individual, just so you know). But either way, it leaves us short. Again.
    We're supposed to receive more machinery later this year, for a couple of new jobs coming in. Like many places, we're trying to build up our workforce, but it's still an uphill battle. Contract people not staying...well, it happens. They find something else, or just decide to not want to work "just yet", or whatever. But someone who's a hired-in person, who *was* a contract, until they got brought on, just makes me shake my head. He's a nice guy, and this just took us by surprise. Needless to say, when I asked if he asked to come back, would we? The answer wasn't comforting.
    It's just so disheartening, you know? Our head office (which is out-of-state, by the way) doesn't really like to give us too much overtime, because of the usual budget worries. So our only recourse is to try and work faster and harder, or change our weekend plans when the overtime is approved. Don't know about you, but getting up at 3AM on a Saturday, when you've got to pick up the slack because of staffing issues, is NOT cool!
     Oh well. Like every other place, we just have to ride it out and hope for the best.
     I just hope that we get lucky people-wise, and actually not have to run ourselves into the ground anymore.
     Fingers crossed!
    

More work drama.....

     Until recently, we've had a type of bonus program in place, where if you hit three goals you'd receive a gift card, based on the goals hit. They were 'Hitting Rate' (producing the parts needed), 'Quality Issues' (no quality problems from the customer), and the biggest one: 'Attendance'. If all three are hit, everyone gets a $50 card. Two of the three, $25. One (or none) then no cards. Quality sometimes pops up; mainly because something didn't hold during transport. Not really our fault, but still...
      Hitting rate is more of an issue, because sometimes our supplier doesn't ship to us. No material, fewer parts shipped. Also not really our fault...
      Know what is? Attendance. People coming in late, deciding to leave early, not showing up, etc. For those of us who *don't* have attendance issues, this annoys us. We're being penalized because of these clowns. Constantly.
     And when they aren't there, we have to pick up the slack, putting other things behind. Idiots...

     Which brings us to why the program is no longer being run. The cards were given out every two weeks; a couple of people got nothing, and couldn't understand why. Mainly, their attendance was terrible - constantly late, not showing up, leaving early. Eventually, it builds up. They were VERY vocal about "How come I didn't get anything?!", to the point where we finally just stopped it. And, to really upset us even more, THEY LEFT. They quit, and complained about how the program was 'unfair', and how management was 'toxic' and 'unreasonable', and such. So much so, that Human Resources (HR) had to call and ask what was going on.
     Now, we're a small place; our main company is out of state, as is our HR. The complainers, were contract people (i.e. not officially hired in). Somehow, they got the number for HR (which they SHOULD NOT HAVE HAD, since they didn't work for us), and lodged complaints. So, now we have to find out how that happened, as well. Plus, we'll probably have to sit down individually with the office to sort this stuff out.
    There aren't too many hired-in people, so we're trying to build up. But for whatever reason, we've had high turn over, and every single time, it's because they will NOT follow the protocols. It's annoying, tiring, and disrespectful. Hopefully, it'll sort itself out soon, because we're tired of the drama.
    And having to deal with this garbage.

  Oh, and by the way....here's a pic of some of the cards I've gotten since we've done this program (it ran about a year and a half or so). It's not a full set, as they can be used in model building (that's a whole separate post), and I've used some for that. They're all used up, by the way.
  The grand total when we stopped? It was over $600.  
  'Unfair'? Only if you don't *want* them......