Ten days.

Surgery happened. It went... Well lets leave that for another lengthy post. This morning I am going in to get the ten staples removed and find out more about when I will be able to go back to work. Yeah, I miss the making of the boxes and the fun of trying to find a new address that of course, has no numbers visible anywhere.
I will try to make a more informative post later today about the surgery and what hell recovery is putting me through. One piece of advice for anyone undergoing this treatment... Go out and buy yourself a package of properly sized mens boxer briefs. They help hold in the gut patches while helping with the chafing from all the walking you will want to do. Air bubbles are not your friend.
Comments and questions welcome, just be polite... Or I might chew your head off.

Recent events.

The Relay for life walk started last night at 6pm. It went until 10am today. I walked a few random laps last night and then at about 5 am I walked for an hour for my "team". I managed to walk 3.25 miles in an hour.
There was this delicious pulled pork as part of the dinner last night and there was a pan left over so I got to have a pulled pork sandwich for brekkies after my hour. There were pizzas donated last night by my employers which were well received.
I donated a few of my random hats to be auctioned off and made almost $100 to add to the money going to cancer research. My knit and crochet boobies were a hit and are going to be used for demo purposes for a while. Thinking about buying some of the other baby yarns wally world carries to make a few more.
After the event closed we packed up and headed home. Managed to do some harvesting on my FB addiction before passing out until almost 5pm.
Tomorrow I have to go in for an EKG before the surgery on Monday morning. I have to be there at 7:30 in the morning to make sure I am drugged up and ready for the doctor at 9.
Hating the fact that I will be trapped in a sterile environment for three days. Did I mention that I do not like hospitals, REALLY do not like. So, I will be sitting in the Hospital trying to not freak about being in the hospital and either knitting or crocheting until my eyeballs fall out just in case anyone wanted to visit... Hint, hint.

More about my job and work mates when I am not so concerned with not waking up dead, turning into a zombie and eating half the town...

Now where were we...

Since my last post Boss has had surgery to remove Gall Stones, I have a date for my surgery, Cowgirl got kicked by a horse and I have gotten almost completely fed up.
Boss has annoyed me in so many ways that I am having a hard time pretending to be happy at work. First, I sold my old car to them with the plan of getting a payment from them every paycheck. The car was not in perfect shape but they were informed of it's problems and Boss's partner has some mechanical skill. This past week they drove it so hard the CV joint cracked and needs to be replaced asap. In order to pay for this Boss asked if I could wait on this payment. I said OK since I know what it is like to need to have something repaired. After this I find out that Partner found money on the ground while buying beer for Boss. On top of this I hear that Partner was RACING the car when the problem happened. Besides having money to buy beer they have money to buy their preffered brands of cigarettes by the pack no less. There are now three employees living in the same house with Boss, paying rent and bills... Where the f**k is the money going. Why can I not get a payment that was agreed on when there are 4 paychecks going into that household?
Second... I am not supposed to work days. Saturday I was scheduled to work in the evening and was doing things with my family when I get a call. The truck won't start so Boss needs me to cover the day shift. I assume that calls have been made to other employees before me so I say fine since no one else can do it I will. This screws my entire weekend time with the family but what can you do. I then find out that the truck was flooded because it was being used to bog around during the rains the night before. I also hear that I was the first person to be called, not the last. How did I get to be the doormat.
Third... Last night... I had twisted my ankle a bit and jammed my toe as well. I was hoping it would be OK by the time my shift started but it hadn't. I went in to make sure that I could get it covered while doing what I could to make sure the store wasn't short staffed. I am told that I can call a few people to find someone to cover for me. I proceed to call as many people as I can. Cowgirl and Angry responded. Neither of them could do it but they at least had the courtesy to return my calls. I am now annoyed with almost all of the people that I work with. I also had to close the store in pain and angry. Rapper tried to do as much as possible to help but I still had a screaming headache and trouble walking at the end of the night (which was 1am).
Fourth... Ghost was fired for a really stupid reason which leaves us short again. Boss hired Hippie chick to replace Ghost which made the 4 paychecks into Boss's house. Rapper has been written up for trying to get things done. Pinky has been demoted for something stupid. Sweets is quitting in a few weeks. I can't work for at least 3 weeks after surgery and that is in 2 weeks. Now I am wondering what else Boss can screw up.

On another note I got someone at a local hotel fired for lying. She was at the counter when I was delivering to a room. I apologized and told her I would bring her a discount card as soon as I could. I went back to the store to find out that she had called to complain. She told Big Boss that she had not been getting cards at all and I got in trouble. I also had to deliver the Pizza that Big Boss comped her. I deliver this and ask if she has any of the cards at all and she tells me no. I can tell she is covering something so I hold on to this info until the next day when I deliver to that hotel again. I talk to one of the other desk people and find out that the problem person claimed that she paid for the pizza. She had also only been working there for a little over a week so would not have had time to collect the right number of cards let alone have enough deliveries without cards. This is the last straw as she had also been causing other problems so my actions indirectly led to her getting canned. I hate liars. Really hate liars.

As for my surgery it is scheduled for the 3rd of may and I will be in the hospital for at least 3 days. Wish me luck.
I am likely leaving out some rant worthy incident but this is more than enough for today.

Comments welcome as usual

Time warp and psychosis

I have things to report. Tiny finally got fired. This led to a landslide of brown stuff. Tiny made a few phone calls accusing Boss of fornicating in the back of the store with Gomer. Tiny Called Gomers wife and the guy in charge of this group of stores... She also told this guy that Rapper was abusing and distributing illicit substances on the store. This led to lots of brown stuff. Gomer was forced by wife's jealous nature to quit. I do not believe anything beyond annoying flirting was going on. On top of this Boss has a serious illness that is causing massive pain and frustration. These allegations on top of the pain have led Boss to schedule some strange hours... Hope the mental breakdown is quick and relatively painless...
More when my brain works a little better.

The problem with ethics.

I am not the best worker, nor am I the fastest but if you give me a job I will do my best to see it through. I have gotten on my knees with scrubbies and paper towels to clean baseboards that will never see the light of day and gotten them truly clean. I have helped friends clean ovens and toilets and pet stained carpets. All of these things I do to the best of my ability when asked. Give me a list of jobs and as long as I understand the requirements I will complete them all and do it with a smile... OK I might whine a little but I won't leave a job half done. People that take a job should be willing to do the job. People that hire others should be able to clearly define the duties and responsibilities that go along with employment. In the job that I am currently at there are very few that meet the requirements I have of being a good employee or employer. I have felt myself wanting to give in to slacker-hood due to the attitudes of those around me. I am most happy when I do a good job and am appreciated for doing so. It seems to me that most of my cow-orkers do not share my opinions on this.
Rant rant rant.
I ended up getting called to be "on call" for Easter Sunday due to the person scheduled not getting gas before the weekend. I had worked the night before but I still said yes. I then get a call today because the person on the schedule had still not been able to get gas. This person lives far enough out of town that I could see this being a problem but there are people that could have either brought some to where it was needed or brought this person into town. I had to say no for today as my creature is off school, otherwise I would have gotten even more hours than I already have and this person would have owed me a(nother) favor. I was hoping to work around 20 hours a week and I normally end up with closer to 30 due to covering for other people... Am I stupid or just easy?

Comments and questions welcome if positive thoughts motivate.

Officially annoyed

As I was at work last night until nearly 2 am I did not feel like typing anything when I got my weary butt home. The main reason that I was so late in getting home was Tiny. There was a list of things that were supposed to be done before this person left for the evening and there is a reason why the shift is called late rush. The orders didn't stop until nearly 11pm and I was running back to back until then. After that I had my own closing duties to attend to some of which were dependent on having the late rush stuff done. I made as much of both lists happen as I could before I had to leave due to the raging headache and need for sleep. I felt bad because I could not do all of it. This person has caused me to lose sleep and tips. The other person got sent home due to labor but Tiny was supposed to stay until the rush of orders had been mostly completed. The ovens got backed up, pizzas were taking too long to get made and orders were late. My tips are affected by this. When your pizza is late the apologies of the driver do not make you feel any less slighted. On top of these things this person is an antagonistic gossip. Telling one manager that another manager is talking trash about them and vice-versa. Talking bad about people when they are not there to defend themselves and smiling to their faces. Yes, I admit that I am talking about my co-workers in an unflattering light, but I am not identifying them and I am not causing issues at my workplace with this type of gossip.
Boss is another problem. Boss does not see how detrimental Tinys actions and behavior are to the welfare of the store. Boss does not see how the actions of many of the employees are causing the store to have problems. We are being told that we need to do more yet not having any instruction as to how this is to be accomplished. The few that have any kind of work ethic are being forced to work around those with none. The extra work is being rewarded with more extra work and the problem children are being slapped on the wrist and told not to do it any more. Scheduling half of the available drivers to be in store when the day has been slow causes runs to be scarce and drivers to sit around waiting. Boss thinks that giving out chores to do while we are waiting is going to improve things... I am unhappy that I take runs and don't get tipped because my back-up left and things are late and I am unhappy that I get to take 1 run in an hour because of over-staffing on a slow shift. Seriously considering applying at Denny's for an evening waitress position... Don't think my face would get the job though.
Must have a sense of humor about reality or it will kill you.
That's all for now
Comments and questions welcome if positive thoughts motivate you.

Addition

So, meeting. There was lots of fake smiling and forced happiness. There was a list of rules that no-one is going to be happy to follow since Boss won't follow them. Cursing, disrespect and standing around doing nothing are all against the rules. All of these are things Boss are guilty of. The issue of music acceptable for playing in the store was raised. Yeah, the idea that foul language is not customer friendly should be a simple concept but there are a bunch that don't get that. It was obvious that Boss was NOT happy about the fact that the store failed an inspection by the big boss #2. The store is in danger of being shut down due to sorry sales and horrid loss of food. The biggest problem the store has is that almost no one working there gives a crap about the store. Why should we when the management is not actually managing. There is too much trying to fix things without understanding how they got broken. Can't expect things to stay fixed if the problems aren't addressed. Yeah, too much confusion and stupidity to be comprehensive about right now. I will try for more tomorrow.
Comments and questions welcome if positive thoughts direct you.

Hipocracy and harpies

There was a meeting tonight. The meeting was full of humor and idiocy. I will make a more detailed and amusing post as soon as the filtration process has been aided by coffee. Big note, Boss said a couple of things that made me nearly walk out due to frustration with incompetence and dis-honesty.
More upon reflection.

Disrespect and disinfectant

Subject one is what constitutes dis-respect. Does an environment where innuendo and connotation of sexual activity count as disrespect when everyone involved accepts it? Does receiving a dressing down in front of not only another co-worker but a potential customer count? My opinion is that the second is a definite yes where as the first is more fuzzy. Smiley and Luck were in a position to both be addressed in front of a customer in front of a friend who is not an employee. This would make that friend a potential customer right? Boss was upset and took this out in an inappropriate fashion. Profanity was used. My issue comes in when there is posted in the store a message to the staff that disrespect is cause for loss of hours. If Boss can be disrespectful and not have consequences then why should the rest of the staff follow the rules as they are posted? There are rules for dress and rules for behavior. There are rules that say if you do not show up or call in you will be disciplined. These rules need to apply to all or they are not enforceable for any. Arbitrary and contradictory application will lead to dissension and lack of efficiency.
There are many things to be cleaned and there are no written guidelines for how to do so. I have tried to follow the flow of employee information and do what is said to be correct but in every other food service place I have worked for there are different cleaners for different jobs. My pet peeve of the moment in this area is Stainless Steel cleaner. While a serious heavy duty cleaner may be used on almost any surface there are reasons why stainless has its own type. I have never seen a specific stainless cleaner used on any of the surfaces in the store and it bugs me. I have asked for it on several occasions and have been brushed off. When I first started working there I tried to find that all important book, the MSDS, and it took 2 weeks before it surfaced. There is supposed to be a set of cleaners applicable to all types of cleaning yet...
There was an inspection by one of the top people involved in this chain. This store got a zero. I wonder why...
Now I get to worry if the job I work so hard to keep will even be there since the store might have to close due to bad inspections and poor sales and labor ratings.

Ranting at the top of my lungs.
More in my head but it is still too unformed as of yet.
Comments are welcome if positive thoughts guide you.

The idea of shift management

When you are trying to manage a group of people the live mainly from tips it is not a good idea in my opinion to have 5 people on a 3 person shift. The deliveries are not going to pile up that much and when you only get sent out 6 times in 3 hours the odds of tips adding up are much lower. The average person in this area has no idea that the delivery charge that has been added to their bill is going to pay the company's insurance on the driver and not to the tip. When you have 5 people taking deliveries on a slow night none of them is going to do well.

I get about 50 cents per delivery to pay for gas and maintenance on the vehicle I drive. As a delivery driver I hope for 15 percent but usually get 10 or less. When someone tells me to keep the change and it is 25 cents or less I get a little grumpy. When I take three deliveries in a row and get stiffed on all three, this too adds to the grumpiness. When your next delivery of food comes to your door and the person handing it to you does so with a smile and says "enjoy your meal" please consider that many people do NOT tip at all.

I try to make sure that I smile and am pleasant to everyone, even those that do not tip. I am interested in repeat business. I also do not want to ask a person the silly question "did you forget something?" or "can I have my tip now please?" though I may feel like doing so. I also do not want to be stuck inside the store doing nothing while waiting for the next order to come on screen.

As a driver I do other things as well. Learning how to make the pizzas so I can help when the large orders come in. Catching the pizza as it comes out of the oven. Cutting them and putting them in their boxes. Dishes, mopping, trash duty and cleaning everything that comes in contact with the food or people. Some of the many things that have to be done. I would rather be driving.

On top of all this I have developed a habit of talking to people that I have delivered to in the car on the way back to the store. All the things I would love to have said come out then. It isn't road rage, just verbal venting.

More when I have the time and brain power.

Direction change.

A new idea for the use of this blogging space.
I have had a few things change since last I posted. Firstly I am now employed at a place that makes and delivers round flat food-like objects that some call "Pizza" as a delivery person. I both love and hate this job which I hope to get into in more detail later.
Secondly, there were some mysterious objects found in my lower lady parts. They were removed and found to not be life threatening but... Due to other issues I will soon be having a large portion of those parts removed for future sanity.
My thought is to try to use this space for the amusement of others. Specifically those that appreciate my sense of humor in times or great annoyance and frustration.

To begin at the beginning... not the middle or the end.
I deliver pizza for one of 2 pizza places in my tiny town. I got the job through curiosity and coincidence. Curiosity at whether I could hold down a job in food service after 9 years of being an almost completely stay at home mom. Coincidence comes into play when an old friend of mine happens to be friends with the new manager of this store.
I applied for the position before the first surgery and had to postpone starting work until I had recovered. Once I started I was informed by Boss that Shorty was going to be "training" me. This training was basically to go on one delivery with her and then get sent out among the sharks. Since that time I have done fairly well in finding out what I need to know by observation and asking lots of questions. Pinkie and Ghost were instrumental in giving me information and demonstration of things I needed to be able to do. All this time passes and I become an official driver and not a probationary employee. Now I get to see all the DRAMA that comes with this type of job. I have been offered drugs, alcohol and other things not only as tips for delivering but as favors from other employees. So far I just find it amusing. I feel kind of like I went back to High-school. I love the fact that I am back in a job where service is the key. I hate the fact that I seem to have developed a dislike for the people in the food service industry.

More when I have the time
Comments and questions welcome if positive thoughts motivate.