It's morning somewhere

Have you ever had one of those days where it seems like you work your butt off, but someone else ends up getting the benefit? Grey Feather wants to tell her story.

"I was working real hard, trying to get the ball. I knew it was there. I'm sure someone else stuck it under there, but I wanted to play with it."

"I finally pulled it out, but it slipped away as though it had a mind of its own. After all that energy spent, I needed to take a short rest."

"I knew someone was on the other side of the box because I could hear kittycat breathing. I wasn't sure who it was. I didn't want to get beat up for my lunch money. Sometimes you can never tell who's going to be behind door number two."

"Well, shit!"

Happy Friday! As always, check out the wonderful animal pictures linked for Friday Ark at The Modulator.

Labels: Friday Cat Blogging, frustration, Grey Feather, Rocky Girl, work

Last night, I made it to bed around 7:00 pm, after washing dishes, cleaning cat box, and vacuuming. The alarm clock was set for 6:30 am. I slept through the night. I woke at 5:15 or so. I decided I could get up and start the day. Once the cats were treated and coffee brewing, I jumped on the bike for a couple minutes, and then the computer.

It started out, last week, when someone needed Friday off. Her shift was the night shift, getting off around 2:00 am. Her son had something special going on, out of town. She really wanted to be there. The boss told her she probably couldn't have the night off because there was no one to cover for her. I was supposed to work Saturday, and really needed to sleep before my shift. My conscience nagged at me. Many times I've gone to work without getting a full night's sleep (for stupid reasons). Finally, I told her I'd cover if no one else could.

After the day job was over, I headed over to the part-time job for my shift. Six were supposed to work that night, in varying shifts. The day boss told me that one called in sick. Another lady arrived for her shift. Another called in with a sick baby. The boss arrived...we were three. We worked like crazed maniacs. The other lady stayed about an hour over. Once she left, the boss and I attacked the work with a vengence. At one point, she said, "I wish I had 3 or 4 of you, oldwhitelady." Mmmmmm, my boss likes me:) When I left, around 2:30 am - and nothing more I could do - the boss said she was probably 1.5 hours ahead. She only had about an half hour left, and she could leave.

Currently, we have quite a few new people learning the job. We probably made such good time because the questions and mistakes, from a new crew - that take up time, were not there. Daylight arrived and I headed back to work. I was cranky, but made it through the day. I know I could have handled two, of the many, phone calls better. Such is life.

Labels: weekend, work

It's funny what we can learn from the people in our lives. I was complaining to two of my female co-workers about my 18-hour bras and how hard they are to fasten in the back. They have four hooks and eyes. As I pulled the back wings to hook, my thumb, that's been broken in the past and probably has arthritis, gets tired. I might be able to hook two eyes, but still need to hook the other two. So, I rest my thumb and try it again. If I've pulled it too tight and my hand is pressing against my back, that hurts, too. Anyway, one of them spoke up, "well, I pull the bra on backwards, fasten it, then twist the cups around front and pull the straps over my arms." The other girl agreed. I'd never thought of such a thing! It works fine. Later, when I was comenting on what we can learn from others, another friend said, "I also fasten it that way, because my arms aren't long enough to fasten it in the back."

Another impact was the actions of X. The boss who gave me a ride one icy day, last winter. One night, while I was working, Y, who travels for the company, called me and said she'd broken down in a rural area. It was about 10:00 pm. I asked her what she was going to do, could she call a garage? Of course, they're all closed by then. She said she'd call me back. When she called back, she asked me to give her her boss's number. I did so. I didn't hear any more from her.

When I went out to my car, I sat there and thought about Y. I didn't like it that she was stranded someplace very rural, and in the dark, at that. I asked myself, "what would X do?" I knew what X would do. I called Y and asked her if someone was coming for her. She said, "no, I left a message on the boss's phone, and she hasn't gotten back to me, yet." I told her to give me the directions and I would come for her. She said, "but you're off work." My answer was, "yes, that's why I can come and pick you up." She gave me the directions.

I only had to backtrack once, and that was only a mile or two:) Past towns, up and down hills, around curves I've never driven before at night, I arrived at the appointed place. I picked her up and she said, "the boss called back and said she'd come pick me up, but I told her you were already on your way. She's going to see to it that you get paid for time and mileage. She hopes you can stop at two places so she won't have to do it later, in the morning." So we did. And we made it back in good time. It was only about 100 mile round trip. Luckily, I didn't see any deer. At night, they scare me. The picture, above, is not from that night, but from a recent morning.

Labels: friends, human nature, work

One day, recently, I was on my way to work, running ahead of time. I was thinking of all the stuff I could get accomplished before the day really took off, once I arrived at the shop. I could even get a close parking space!

Ha... I ended up stuck in traffic. An accident had happened only minutes before. I had to call work and tell them I'd be late. I also called my mother. We had a nice leisurely conversation, so it wasn't a really bad morning, except for the people in the accident. I hope they weren't severely injured.

Labels: car, work

It's been a busy month. Too much to do, not enough time to get everything finished. Upsets and uncertainties at work. Same old, same old, I guess. It was time to take a nice long walk. We met at the park and walked at a fast pace. It was very warm out, but a nice breeze visited, now and again. My father turns 90 this week. For his birthday, he got an appointment to see his doctor. I hope you all are having a good week.

Labels: park, work

The weekend just flew by, didn't it? Thank goodness for that! I haven't gotten to visit many of my favorite blogs because the time factor was just not there.

I needed to have some heavy duty work done to the trailer before Rocky Girl figured out how to get out. Around my living room windows, the particle board was rotting. ...One evening, I was doing something near the window. My foot slipped toward the wall and went through the floor. I knew I needed to get that fixed as soon as possible. Payday was coming soon, so I talked to the same people who put in the bathroom and hallway floor. Yes, they could fix the areas around the windows and they could do it this weekend (before I spent my whole paycheck). I gave them the key and money for materials, during the week.

Friday night, as soon as I got back from work, I started moving things out of the way. As soon as I got up, Saturday morning, I moved cat food, water, and litter box to the main bedroom, then chased down the cats. They were all deposited in the bedroom, as well. When I headed out to work, my repair people had not yet arrived. For lunch, I still hadn't heard from them, so hurried home to see if anyone was there (I forgot to get their phone numbers).

My parking space was empty, so I unlocked the door to see if I could see anything. They had been there. The carpet had been cut and measuring done. They were out getting materials. When I got home, Saturday, the floor areas were finished, and they were working on the window frames (the old ones had water and cat damage). They were almost finished. Thirty minutes more, they had their money and I was moving furniture back in place.

Sunday, after getting back from work, I passed out. The stresses of worrying about yesterday's repair work, the cats, and making sure I was at work on time, etc., enabled me to sleep for a long period of time.

Labels: repairs, weekend, work