Friday Evening Ramblings

Happy Friday evening everybody. I guess we can thank Blogger for giving us the day off from blogging. I don't appear to have anything new on mine as of 6:30 PM. The picture is from a family gathering that took place a few weeks back and seated at the table is yours truly and Linda's brother, Joe but we call him Junior. Just thought you would like a picture along with my ramblings.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a rainy day here in NC. Linda & I will have to be out in it as we are going to my oldest daughter's place in Fuquay-Varina, NC for my grandaughter Ashley house warming. Yes, she is going to find out how the rest of us live with rent, utility payments, phone bills, etc. I guess there comes a time when teens feel they just have to spread their wings and do their own thing. Hopefully it won't be a hard lesson for Ashley.

It was a slow day at work with not much activity on the phone which translates to not many service calls for my 5 guys to handle. I even had time to defrag my computer so you know I was bored.

What in the world is going on with gas prices? This morning I filled up for $3.70 a gal. while in the same town there are stations selling theirs for $3.89. This is in the same town. Makes no sense at all but it sure has slowed Linda and I down except for the family gatherings that we feel we must attend.

Well my friends, after the long break we had today I felt like I needed to at least say "HEY" and have a great weekend so take care and be good. If you can't be good, be careful.

T. G. I. F. - I Hope!!

Now that I have you smiling I do hope that this will be an awesome friday for everyone out there in blog world. I also wanted to take a moment and thank all those that are following my sometimes wild and wacky postings. As of this morning the count was up to 96 and I still find that number hard to believe. Lately I have seen comments from a lot of new folks and that is really encouraging and I do appreciate you stopping by to leave a good word.

If you remember, last friday I nearly had a melt-down here in my office after the 3 technicians I had in the field all came down with CFS. You'll have to peak back at last friday's post if you don't know what CFS means. Well, I went into Monday expecting the worse with numerous customer's machines inoperable but it went more smoothly than I had figured and as a whole the week was not too bad. Hopefully we will finish out this week with a lower stress level.

OK, this is the 3rd weekend in April which mean there will be lots of activity in my neck of the woods. Today through Sunday will be the Haliwa Saponi Pow Wow with tribes from all over the country coming to participate in the dance competition, singing, sales of crafts, food and seeing who can dress the best. It will also be a busy time for Linda & I since we will have to be in Apex, NC saturday for her Aunt Frances' birthday celebration. If you recall she is the one we visited while at the Celebrity Dairy B & B. I will have pictures to post since her daughter's place is very attractive. Have a great one everyone.

How my friday turned out

Happy Sunday folks. The picture pretty much sums up how my technicians repaired copiers on friday. Yes, it was one of those, Mr. Customer, it sure sucks to be you days. I don't think anyone could have been happier to see 5 PM happen than I was.

If they had been "green" technicians with little or no experience my expectations would have been lower but these guys, and I was down to 3 since one only works through wednesday part time and one was on a day of vacation, all have many years of experience but I think they were all afflicted with the same disorder. I'm not happy with my job and can't fix shit syndrome.

Of course when I see this happening and recognize it for what it is I feel powerless to make anything positive happen and that is an awful feeling to put it mildly. You might ask me are these guys worked too hard or not give enough benefits during the day? Well, let's see.

To start with each of them are supplied with a company vehicle to drive to and from home at no cost to them. They have a gas card to keep the vehicle full of gas that is approaching $4.00 a gal. Their day starts at 8 AM but they have been conditioned to slowly exit the shop towards 9 AM but not to their first service call but to "Griffin's Grill" next door to have breakfast and fellowship until maybe 9:30 or later putting them at their first call if I am lucky around 10 AM. Don't forget that lunch time is coming and they know how to squeeze every minute out of 60. As a disclaimer I will add that this behaviour is practiced by 4 of the 5. I do have one that actually acts responsible so there is a glimer of hope at times.

So, you might say to yourself after reading all this, how in the hell can they not be happy with their job? You see, they have all been told 1,000 times that the day starts at 8 AM and 8:01 is not acceptable to come walking through the door. Also we try to be a profit based company and when they throw a $100 assembly at a machine when a $1.25 part would have fixed the problem, or they forget to take an important part to a call and have to go back burning more expensive gas, they get upset when management barks at them. That is when the syndrome kicks in and I have to wonder how long it will last.

I don't really know if any of them actually look at my blog and I don't really care but I hope they see this and realize how they need to park their attitudes in the parking lot and get on with business like professionals.

On a lighter note we did get spaghetti plates the company bought from the local Boy Scouts that was quite tasty.

Monday is coming, with numerous emergencies facing my day but at least I will have 5 technicians instead of 3 unless one or more calls in sick. Time will tell.

T. G. I. F.

Have you ever had one of those weeks when it seemed that every day was filled with confusion, negative vibes and irritations. Mine has fulfilled all those requirements and this old boy sure needs a couple of days away from my office.

Here's hoping that everyone in my blog world is well or getting much better, happy and feeling blessed to have a blog family like I do.

Making my co workers crazy

Yesterday I had my co-workers wanting to rob my office where I had a small crock pot with chicken legs cooking in a mixture of cream of chicken and cream of celery soup. It smelled like coming to grandmas house and tasted great at lunch time.

Today I am worrying them again with a beef stew mixture that is already smelling great and it is only 7:25. Sure beats having to run out and deal with fast food places at lunch time.

Friday, there is just something special about that day. Hope yours will be a great one.