Warning: Life Under Construction

No, I haven't forgot about my LiveJournal account.  However, since good ol' LJ has made it impossible to write profitable posts, I've been concentrating on my blogger site and on finishing my ebook (for Kindle and Nook).

As for my main job, the board of directors fired the company president and then made him chairman of the board.  Stupidity is its own reward, I guess. 

Otherwise, the company has been very profitable for the investors.  My co-workers and I have even more work and still not enough help to get things done.  Pay raises remain in the realm of unicorns and flying pigs.  So, yay!, little has changed.

Last month, I learned about the hardships our company's cleaning woman had recently had to endured. Her son had suddenly been afflicted by epileptic fits. Of course, this meant trips to a major health clinic several miles away. Our HR directory told our cleaning woman not worry. Her job was safe and to focus on the health of her son.

Monday, the plant manager called our cleaning woman to the HR office. They said she wasn't doing a good enough job and that her cleaning services were no longer needed. In other words, our cleaning lady lost her job without prior notice that it was in jeopardy.

I also learned that a former cleaning woman who had been promoted to assembly line worker has been spreading a few rumors. She didn't like her promotion and wanted to return to her former duties. I don't know how much of an influence her disparaging remarks had on the plant manager. In any case, she now has her former job back.

Today, I returned to work after visiting family and attending my son's graduation. I wasn't surprised to see my work phone's 'new messages' lamp greet me with an intense red glow. I was surprised to listen to two of the messages refer to my resume on Monster and ask "would I be interested in a job that seems to match my qualification?"

New and better work opportunities? Hmmmm. After getting mind-numbing updates from my boss on the latest project insanities, I'll have to think a few moments on those possible jobs offers before I ... yes! YES! I will call!

I tried to log in and resume posting. Yet, the obvious security measures that LiveJournal has put in place delay my log-in by a good 5 minutes. After signing into LJ, I was able to log on to my "Adapt, Adopt, and Improve", post an entry, and then return here before finally having the privilege of posting this.

ANYWAY, I will be working to post more often entries such as:
"I need to add a couple of items to my resume. One of them is that I've never done anything bad enough that Ashton Kutcher had to become my replacement."

I've got to hone my writing skills (if there are any). Earning money is behind this endeavor and I don't have time to spare.

If you have visited blogs on Live Journal last month, you noticed a little difficulty getting to your favorite sites. If you're a LJ blogger, you noticed how frustrating it was to post anything. It was especially frustrating for those of us trying to meet deadlines with our writing assignments.

But those stressful days are gone now. And since LJ now automatically puts a "no follow" tag on every link that you write, gone are the income producing days as well.

Thanks, hackers! And thanks, LJ!

You would think that everyday should be Mother's Day. But, thanks to Woodrow Wilson's guilty conscience, we must celebrate Mother's Day on this coming Sunday ... or else.

My friend’s guilt has her ranting that she must get a fruit basket to her mom by Sunday. And not just any fruit basket, it has to be an organic fruit basket delivery. Heaven forbid that her mother received an inorganic version. I imagine such a basket consists of plastic fruit and is the type of arrangement that manikin children would send to their stiff, unyielding manikin moms.

Of course, if you had met my friend’s mother, you might find similarities between the two maternal beings. Not only would my friend's mom enjoyed the plastic fruit, she would make a salad out of it and expect you to try some ... or else.

Last week, management summoned us to the cafeteria to hand out brand-new employee manuals. After reading it, I don't think anyone will make a movie about it. You can't get any better than "Office Space".

The Cliff's notes edition is this: make sure we employees weren't cheating the company out of anything with our 10-hours-of-work-for-8-hours-of-pay efforts. For example, take the new rule for hourly employees concerned overtime.

In the past, if someone worked over eight hours in a day, they received time and a half pay for those few minutes over eight hours. Since it has been over seven years since they've had a pay raise, this little bit of overtime money helps many families as you can imagine.

The new rule is that a worker will get overtime but only after putting in over 40 hours in a week. Oh, as it was repeatedly mentioned, this new procedure was not a cost-cutting decision.

Naturally, there has been a little rumbling amongst the troops. So today, management summoned only the hourly people to the cafeteria. Our gracious overlords expressed sympathy over the change in the overtime procedure. "Not a cost-cutting measure, we just following guidance of the law." Then, in a spirit of generosity, our CFO announced a pay raise for our hard-working, time-clock-punching workers! After seven long years of dedicated effort, this $36 million a year company has blessed all 35 of its hourly coworkers with … wait for it … a $0.25 an hour raise in wages. I don't know about you but, as my friends drive to work, I'm sure that quarter will certainly put a dent in their gasoline and food bill.

Surprisingly, there was no standing ovation. No one jumped up on their chairs and roared the company's name in cheers of admiration. At the end of the meeting, everyone quietly walked back to the workstations and considered their future employment options.

Okay, folks! I get it! You're getting older and the highlight of your day is to complain about your pains.

Well, I've got a few pains of my own. But do we really need to trade stories about the results from sleeping the wrong way? (Exactly when did the simple act of resting on a bed become so complicated?)

There are days when I've considered wrapping my bendable parts with aircast braces. I've strongly considered encasing my entire body in one of those inflatable sumo wrestling costumes. In fact, if things don't get better, you will find me in New York on Thanksgiving day. Be sure to wave. I'll be the one tethered by several ropes as I float in the Macy's Day Parade. Padded and pain free, hopefully.

That was my comment on Saturday as the wind and rain forced the top of the neighbors' trees to kiss the pavement. Next came the nickel and dime sized hail. Had I been standing outside, I would have certainly been nickeled and dimed to death --- sort of like having an account with the Bank of America, only less painful.

As I jokingly said, "Don't worry, it's just a little wind", the power cut out. In the sudden silence, we then heard an odd rushing noise overhead. Later, we learned that a tornado, one that had touched destructively down only moments ago a few miles to our west, had bounced over our neighborhood and then vandalized a housing area 5 miles to our east. I would have bought a lottery ticket at that point but all the stores were shut down.

That night we lived by the light of an almost full moon, several candles, and the fire of a charcoal grill as I saved hamburger from death by an unpowered refrigerator. I also had to make the supreme sacrifice and drink up all the Guinness that resided peacefully in our locally warming fridge. Sometimes you just have to make the best of tough times. I did. And now I have "just a little wind" from my adventure.