MAY 30, 2020 – It has been 20 days since I last posted! WOW! Okay, not my longest between posts and not a shocker really. I did indicate that returning to work, my podcast and blog would probably decrease in activity.
So, why so long you ask? Well, because when all you do is go to/from work, with fewer people to interact with and few places to see others, what is there to really share with others? A typical day in this “post covid” life of mine is pretty much the same as it was pre-covid [and during covid for that matter]. I drag my tired ass outta bed, get breakfast, arrive at work, work, leave work, drag my tired ass directly to the shower then bed, ready to repeat.
Some things have changed though. Work is quieter. Fewer bodies. Things are much more ‘laid back’ and not much pressure is put on us to produce end products. I spent a day or two trying to figure out what work was on the shelf, if it had been authorized to be done or not, and sort of ‘retraining’ myself to do my job. Once I had sifted through the do’s and don’ts I encountered a problem with the VersaCamm VS-300i printer. Called tech support, finally got a call back and after troubleshooting it was recommended we purchase an $80 part that ‘should have been replaced’ a while back. When I got instructions on how to install new part, while waiting on it to arrive, I reviewed the instructions and discovered the REAL problem. I fixed it myself. Simple really and I had asked the tech when we talked about it but was brushed off. I get it. I’m a female and I haven’t installed hundreds of these printers. That was why I got out of the tech industry, men never really accepted women in that world and I didn’t want to spend my entire life fighting for acceptance. I know enough to be dangerous. I know enough to fix things once I take a step back and just have confidence in myself. Knowing I had a deadline just four days after we returned, I couldn’t afford to wait on a part. I had to figure it out. The $80 part never arrived.
Anyway, work has been quieter, I got sidetracked. It is quieter because there are fewer bodies and we aren’t there much beyond the operating hours. Overtime is not being had. Heck, the 9-4 is about all we need really. I spent one day, after the deadline project, cleaning up the work areas I use. Reorganizing actually. Seems the time away allowed me to have fresh eyes when we got back and I realized I was spending time chasing things down and my work flow could be tweaked a little to cut down on the chase. I am one of 5 working in the warehouse, a very HOT warehouse, I might add. The first two weeks back, 10 days, we did the 9am to 4pm and I found myself working through lunch. This last week was strange. The warehouse staff dwindled to two of us…me and shipping/receiving. I had a 300 piece order that kept me hopping…all week…plus smaller orders I worked in here and there to break up the boring 300 piece repetitiveness. All in all, I wasn’t expecting overtime nor was I getting it. I did have enough to be busy for my expected 9 to 4. Sadly, I was also ‘expected’ to do other tasks that were not specific to my actual job which certainly helped fill the hours.
As I said, we are a bit more ‘relaxed’. We are not being distracted by sales staff with many different expectations. Since we are not delivering things, there are more shipping and pickups. I like the relaxing way we are doing things but I also know that a business cannot be successful if we continue on this path. We cannot expect to speed up and do more if we don’t have customers. Customers don’t exist as long as sports and schools are not in session. We have some corporate customers that are doing business with us, but our main focus has always been sports. It is purely my speculation that we won’t see a speed increase until about mid-July or early August.
I’ve said this many times…I LOVE what I do. I make decent money to pay bills and spend on my hobbies. I am certainly not living an extravagant life on my pay. I get more self gratification out of my job than monetary gain. I am also human. I realize that being reduced to working 35 hours a week is certainly a hit in the pocket from what I was used to pre-covid. I also was fortunate enough to work overtime, because there was work to do. Sadly, as I have told some that haven’t been called back to their jobs, “I made more money when I was unemployed, even without the $600 gift payment”. So, it’s not about the money for me but, I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t rather be spending time with family and doing my own thing all while making more money than working in a hot warehouse on my feet for 7 hours a day.
So, yes. It has been 20 days since I posted and those 20 days have been a big adjustment after 45 days of my own schedule. I believe that having been a stay-at-home mom much longer than that makes it easy for me to adjust. Meanwhile, I’ll keep posting my thoughts when I get a chance.
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