Bloggage
Well, I have a hundred (profound, insightful, erudite) posts in my head, but committing them to . . . electrons . . . is something else instead. Discipline. Read other blogs for ideas and information, but commit to writing down my own thoughts.
Sunday the kids went to a neighbor’s house for swimming, while I got to spend quality time with my husband planting and weeding. Our vegetable farm really needs to begin earning some money. To that end, we’ve hired some serious help this year, recognizing that D. can’t do it all himself in the volumes we need, with my occasional help. The kids are sort of getting to the age where they can do useful stuff, but they aren’t serious contributors.
What’s wrong with the youth of today?! When D. was growing up (on a dairy farm, one of 8 kids), he had serious farm responsibilities from an early age. Is it that we didn’t start our kids early enough? That we want them to have an easier life? That we don’t have animals (outside the chickens) that need daily or twice daily attention or THEY WILL DIE? That there are more outside distractions and things that compete for attention (TV isn’t one of our distractions—that’s for another post).
Anyway, I got to spend time physically close, working with D., having some good discussions, accomplishing something necessary. Not like taking a bike ride, which is just recreation.
Mondays and Tuedays are difficult days for me, because I usually work all day. Thursdays are a short day for me, while Wednesdays and Fridays are usually spent at home. We are currently in a two week window between the end of school and the beginning of summer school, so the kids are pretty much responsible for themselves while I’m at work and D. is outside.
Summer school starts next week, four days a week, mornings. Mostly fun classes for the girl, enrichment-type stuff for the boy. He looked over his schedule (math, reading, art, Spanish, etc.) and commented, “I really wasn’t expecting Spanish.” To which there’s only one answer: “Nobody EXPECTED (the) Spanish (Inquisition)!”
I have ALWAYS had a difficult time getting to work regularly by 8:00 a.m., and have had bosses with varying degrees of acceptance of this philosophy/behavior. Fortunately I work in an extremely flexible department currently. Just about anything goes with respect to work hours as well as attire. Well, the entire company is extremely flexible with regard to what is appropriate work garb. For a Fortune 500 company no less.
However, during this two week window, I’ve been managing to arrive at my desk before 8:00 a.m., due to a combination of early morning light and bird noise, being the only one who has to get out of the house by 7:00, and lighter traffic due to schools/colleges being mostly out of session. Don’t expect it to last.
I once had a boss who thought that if you could be at your desk by 8:05, you could just as easily be there by 7:55. He was also one who didn’t believe people (women) should wear sandals or other open toed shoes to work—as he put it, “I don’t want to see your toes! Toes are gross!” Man, would he be disgusted at the environment in my current job.
I call it a job, but I’m a **contractor,** meaning I work by the hour, receive no benefits, and have, umm, basically no employment rights. I’ve been contracting here for five years, despite the company’s written policy of an 18 month limitation on contractors. (My boss has found a creative way around this limitation.) Theoretically, my hourly rate includes enough to compensate me for individually purchased health insurance, vacation/sick pay, and many of the other normal perks that REAL employees receive.
Today’s thought: You can’t drink all day unless you start drinking in the morning.
Well, I have a hundred (profound, insightful, erudite) posts in my head, but committing them to . . . electrons . . . is something else instead. Discipline. Read other blogs for ideas and information, but commit to writing down my own thoughts.
Sunday the kids went to a neighbor’s house for swimming, while I got to spend quality time with my husband planting and weeding. Our vegetable farm really needs to begin earning some money. To that end, we’ve hired some serious help this year, recognizing that D. can’t do it all himself in the volumes we need, with my occasional help. The kids are sort of getting to the age where they can do useful stuff, but they aren’t serious contributors.
What’s wrong with the youth of today?! When D. was growing up (on a dairy farm, one of 8 kids), he had serious farm responsibilities from an early age. Is it that we didn’t start our kids early enough? That we want them to have an easier life? That we don’t have animals (outside the chickens) that need daily or twice daily attention or THEY WILL DIE? That there are more outside distractions and things that compete for attention (TV isn’t one of our distractions—that’s for another post).
Anyway, I got to spend time physically close, working with D., having some good discussions, accomplishing something necessary. Not like taking a bike ride, which is just recreation.
Mondays and Tuedays are difficult days for me, because I usually work all day. Thursdays are a short day for me, while Wednesdays and Fridays are usually spent at home. We are currently in a two week window between the end of school and the beginning of summer school, so the kids are pretty much responsible for themselves while I’m at work and D. is outside.
Summer school starts next week, four days a week, mornings. Mostly fun classes for the girl, enrichment-type stuff for the boy. He looked over his schedule (math, reading, art, Spanish, etc.) and commented, “I really wasn’t expecting Spanish.” To which there’s only one answer: “Nobody EXPECTED (the) Spanish (Inquisition)!”
I have ALWAYS had a difficult time getting to work regularly by 8:00 a.m., and have had bosses with varying degrees of acceptance of this philosophy/behavior. Fortunately I work in an extremely flexible department currently. Just about anything goes with respect to work hours as well as attire. Well, the entire company is extremely flexible with regard to what is appropriate work garb. For a Fortune 500 company no less.
However, during this two week window, I’ve been managing to arrive at my desk before 8:00 a.m., due to a combination of early morning light and bird noise, being the only one who has to get out of the house by 7:00, and lighter traffic due to schools/colleges being mostly out of session. Don’t expect it to last.
I once had a boss who thought that if you could be at your desk by 8:05, you could just as easily be there by 7:55. He was also one who didn’t believe people (women) should wear sandals or other open toed shoes to work—as he put it, “I don’t want to see your toes! Toes are gross!” Man, would he be disgusted at the environment in my current job.
I call it a job, but I’m a **contractor,** meaning I work by the hour, receive no benefits, and have, umm, basically no employment rights. I’ve been contracting here for five years, despite the company’s written policy of an 18 month limitation on contractors. (My boss has found a creative way around this limitation.) Theoretically, my hourly rate includes enough to compensate me for individually purchased health insurance, vacation/sick pay, and many of the other normal perks that REAL employees receive.
Today’s thought: You can’t drink all day unless you start drinking in the morning.
posted by YAMB at 10:39 AM
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