Is There Such A Thing As Too Much Work

   Ok, let's write. It has been a long two weeks. Everything will be explained, but first I just have to say that I'm exhausted. I have been working my normal sites as well as that new fill in site at the TV station. They really like me out there, so I've gotten more hours than I bargained for. I guess we should start with last week first though.

     So, last week they had me out there at the TV station for only 1 day. I was ok with that cause I was scheduled to do a double on Sunday. Come Saturday morning, I get a text saying that I'm no longer working a double and will only be working my normal shift and another officer will be relieving me. I was bummed, because that double was promised to me weeks ago, but this other officer apparently begged them to take it away from me so he could have it. They did so I just had to deal with it. Let's get to Sunday. I had cancelled all my arrangements to have the goof troop taken care of since I wasn't going to be gone from the house for 16hrs (really 17hrs) and went about my day. When it came time for my shift to be over, beggar boy was nowhere to be found. I went and did what was required of that time frame and took care of things then texted my supervisor. Here is the thing, the guy that was relieving me, generally only works 1st shift which is my shift at that post, they gave him the second shift. When my supervisor called him, he said he wasn't informed that he was supposed to come in and that he wasn't going to. Here is the thing. I was informed, as I told you by the field supervisor, then I contacted my supervisor to fill in him and he told me that he was also informed by the field supervisor, that would only lead me to assume that my field supervisor filled everyone in, since I personally saw the texts that he sent my supervisor. The replacement as protesting not getting first shift like he wanted. Here is the kicker. I had already reported that officer for, let's just say doing things he wasn't supposed to be doing. After this little incident they are saying that he won't be allowed at any of those sites anymore, but we will see. Anyway, I got my supervisor to come in and relieve me for an hour so I could take care of the pups, then I ran the double minus an hour. The next day I was out at the TV station for what was going to be the first of two days working the second shift. Went through the shift with no problems and got home just before midnight and went to sleep. Now, but phone didn't something it never does. It went into "do not disturb" on it's own, but the dogs still woke me up at 7:30. I let them out and then fed them and finally looked at my phone. It was full of texts and missed calls from the supervisor at the TV station. She had a family emergency and asked if I could come in to cover her shift as well as mine. I said, 'just let me get cleaned up and I'll be there, it should take me 2 hours". It's close to an hour drive to Orlando. I hopped to, got cleaned up and showed up about 10 minutes earlier than what I had stated. Got to work and slayed it out there. My supervisor out there called to check on me to see how everything was going and to give me an update on her situation. It was going great as I said, and then she asked If I could come in the next day to work the second shift so she could recoup. She had only slept a couple of hours that night and also the night before. I of course said I would be there. Let's just compare that to the guy that said he wouldn't come in cause he wasn't informed. That last day was the end of my work week and I clocked 68.25 hours. My check this coming Wednesday should be pretty good, which is very much needed.

      Now to the exhaustion. This is definitely taking a toll on me, but I've done 3 of my normal 4 days so far, with the last tomorrow, and then I hit an overnight tomorrow at the TV station, with another overnight on Monday night. Right now that has me scheduled to be off Tuesday and Wednesday, but I'm waiting on that one, cause there is a good chance that they may want me for one more day at the TV station. I've been told they really like me out there, and I had a few people tell me how glad they were I was there. Yeah, they actually said that.

      That leads into the praise I received Thursday at my normal site by one of the really important people there. What he said floored me because I'm only out there 2 days a week , which had me wondering what the hell do the other officers do out there. I'm hearing things may change soon, not so good for some, but really good for others, and when I say others, I mean me, but it is only talk right now, so I won't really go into it.

     Now for a little fun. Now I know I said that I would never show you a picture of me in uniform, but there was a selfie station up at the job site, and they really wanted people to use it, so I was asked and I couldn't say no. You have to satisfy the client. Now when I say selfie station, it was a backdrop screen with an iPad type of tablet in front of you taking the picture and it added different foregrounds. I went with the basic Starliner, so you will now finally get to see me in uniform. 

     That is the first and hopefully the last time you will see me in uniform. I was happy to do it for them, because that location is my absolute favorite site to work at. Once again, also where I got an avalanche of praise from a VIP there just before taking that picture. 

    Ok, I should probably go make dinner before I pass out. One more day of my normal post then 7 hours after I leave that one, I'll be at the TV station, doing the overnight for Sunday and Monday. 

    I could share a video with you, but I'm actually too tired to look it up and post it on here, so you will just have to take what I give you. I hope you have a wonderful week. Peace in and goodnight.

How Much Sleep Do You Really Need

     I don't even really know where to begin with this week, so I'm starting with the video I promised from a couple of weeks ago. I Do have video of the last launch as well, but I put that up on my Instagram story so I'll just hope that you saw it and leave it at that.

     Ok, I guess I should update you on what I talked about last week. I did in fact get a raise, and to say that that is an unusual occurrence would truly be an understatement. See the way a security contract works, and these are entirely made up numbers. A security company bids on the contract and like anything of this nature, it's the lowest price wins, but it's not just that simple. Say the security company tells the business that we can secure your property with security officers for $25 per man hour. The business says that's a bargain and the security company gets the contract. Now the security company has to man the post and hire a supervisor and officers. They pay the supervisor $17 dollars per hour, and each guard $15 dollars per hour. Wait, the billed the business $25 dollars per hour. Yes, they did, but you don't expect them to keep some of that money so that they have a profit do you? With that plan in place there would seem to be room for a raise from time to time right? Wrong, that would cut into the security companies profits. The normal way that you get a raise as a security officer is that you either become a supervisor and work your way up through the company, or you transfer to a site with a more lucrative contract. So how did I get a raise? I honestly don't know for sure, but it has been told to me from someone I trust, the it came directly from the client. They were so happy with the job I've been doing that they offered to pay me individually more per hour. That is basically an unheard of thing. This also means that I'm building a very good reputation with not only the client, but also my own company. For a client to offer to pay an officer more, it's a very big deal. This is why, despite the fact that I've had other security companies offer my jobs that have higher pay, that I've turned them down to stay where I am. I'm looking at the big picture of where I can go as opposed to what I can have right now.

     Now, that doesn't mean that I'm not hustling to make more money to make up the difference, and that brings us to Monday night. I told you that I claimed a shift off this app that we use. Well it wasn't quite as easy as it sounded, and the end result as made me noticeable to some other important people. Turns out that someone has been posting jobs for sites that can't just fill them with anyone. This job was just such a site. As I mentioned, it was for a local news station, and it's a very active site. It is in a metropolitan area, and since it is a news station with high visibility, it frequently gets bomb and death threats for the employees. This is why the person filling the shift has to be vetted and trained. I met the supervisor that night and she explained all of this to me and asked where my normal post was, when I told her she said forget everything I'm keeping you here and you are going to train tonight and then you can come back tomorrow afternoon to do a shift. Training was pretty standard with a few new things. I have to escort or basically oversee the parking lots when employees leave. The escorts are for certain employees that are higher profile than most. This brings a whole new set of skills for me to master most of all, threat assessment. I have to be very aware of the surroundings and potential threats to the clients. Then I have to deter those threats or find a way to eliminate them. I won't go into details on how that is done. The pay isn't all that great, in fact I'm making less there than my other site, but once again, it's all about the big picture and what this experience can lead to, and who knows of my presence on site. All of those watching see my performance and if they approve of my performance at a site that requires a whole different skill set, it is very favorable to my future. That's where that big picture comes in. It's all about the future potential. Give up the small gains for the big ones later.

     With all of that. I did work Monday night, and then Tuesday afternoon, without the chance to go to sleep. I figured that I went around 36 hours without sleep, and was really looking forward to relaxing on Wednesday, when I checked the schedule to make sure I was on my normal day of Thursday, to find that I had to go to work in a few hours. I called my supervisor on that site to verify that I was working, because he has screwed up the schedule before, and it was a shock to him that I was working, except for the fact that he told me that he called in another guy, that was supposed to be in that time slot to fill another shift at a sister site that we have. That meant that I had to go in to cover for the guy that was called to the other site. Once again, this all seemed to be a surprise to the cat that is making the actual schedule. Listen, this supervisor is a good guy, but sometimes good guys aren't meant to be supervisors, and he definitely falls into that category. I've been told by several people that I should take over that post, but I can only do what those above me want me to do, and right now, they don't see it that way, despite the fact that important people that are the client are saying that. This goes back to that big picture thing. I truly feel that things will work out the way they are supposed to, and my work ethic will prevail and lift me up. Also, being supervisor of that site would be nice, but that isn't the endgame for me. It's just a step in the right direction.

    So, I worked Wednesday which should have been my day off, the I was back to my normal schedule of Thursday- Sunday, with tomorrow being Sunday. That will make 11 straight days on the job. That should lead to a very nice paycheck, which I desperately need. Big picture means troubled times in the present, but oddly, I'm not at all worried. Once again, I'm confident in the big picture and everything working out in the end. Anyway, I have no idea how much the check is going to be, because I'm not sure how the ones above are going to play things out. Do they consider the news station a separate part time job and pay me straight? Do they see it as overtime and pay me time and a half? Do they lump it all together and then a day from each site is considered overtime and give me different pay scales at time and a half? I truly don't know and won't really have any idea until I get a look at the pay stub late Monday evening. I have gone to the trouble to figure out a few different scenarios, and the difference I've figured can be within the $250 dollar range. I know, that is a pretty big difference. I would of course like the top of that range, but I'm ok with the bottom. Either way, I'm getting hit with massive withholdings from my paycheck. I lose about a third of it each week to benefits and taxes. This again goes to a big picture, just a different one.

    I do have one picture for you this week. I just had to take a picture of the Desert Rose. I just can never get over how full it is compared to other ones that I've seen. Since I took this picture earlier this week it has already formed some new buds and has actually flowered, but just take a look at how awesome it is.

     That's about all I have for this week. I do have some concerns that I won't get paid for the news station, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I'll fill you in next week if anything strange happens. Until next week, peace in and goodnight.

Learning Is Fundamental

      I know I said I'd have last weeks video up for you to watch, but I have a new one that I had to get in for you instead. This is just one of the things that I may see when I'm driving in not work. Once again, I should warn you that it says it's processing, but I have no idea if it will actually load or not. I did post this to my Instagram story so you may have seen it there, but this is the Space X Falcon 9 coming home after it landed back at the pad, or the land landing site, as opposed to the drone ship that sits out in the Atlantic ocean. This is the second time I've had the good luck of seeing it drive down the road with its KSC police escort. I still have that other video of last weeks launch and I'll try to get it loaded up for you next week.

     It's been an interesting week. As part of my job, or maybe it's kind of a perk, I had this app called Daily Pay. The idea is that once your daily pay is submitted, you can draw it out through this app and put it in your bank account. There is a catch of course. The amount they allow you to have isn't necessarily your full pay, and they also charge a fee to do it. I of course will never draw from that and will just wait for payday to arrive. The good thing about it though, is that I can see if they maybe missed a day or got my hours wrong. Well this week there was a bit of a surprise when I saw the first day roll in there. The amount they said I could have access to was a little bit more than usual. That made me go in the app to see what exactly was going on. It looks like I got a raise, which is really weird because all the other officers constantly talk about how much they are making and the pay seems to be set in stone. From what I've been told raises are only given out when the contract changes and then everyone gets the raise. The exception is of course the supervisor who of course makes more. Now, no one has said anything about getting a raise, and I truly won't know for sure until Monday evening when the pay stub for this coming week is available for me to see. I will know for sure when I can look at the standard pay rate. The only reason I can think of this being true is from wha the facilities manager said to me on that night that we had the fire sprinkler mishap. He said to me as he was leaving that he was going to make sure that my effort and professionalism were acknowledge. This could be the way it is acknowledged. I'll let you know for sure next week. I still won't know the why, but I will defiantly know the what is.

     Oh, I got a picture for you. The Chonk's new collar arrived, and it's marvelous. As I mentioned before, I thought that The Goonies was the way to go with him because after all he is The Chonk. Well here is the collar on him. I'm holding it a little awkward so that you can see his name embroidered into it. 

     He seems to like it, but I'm sure it's more of him putting up with my dorkiness. I just have to tell you how lucky I am with all these pups. They are truly the greatest. The get along so well and even Ri Ri has given up on being grumpy and I think she might be a little in love with The Chonk now.They are all laying down sleeping right now, and The Chonk is in the chair next to me snoring up a storm.

     I'm picking up my first extra shift this week. I will be doing an overnight this Monday at a local news station in Orlando. I have no idea how it's going to go or what I'm exactly supposed to do, but I'll figure it out. I don't even know what the pay is. On the app where I can claim shifts they give the day/time/location/&what the requirements are, but they don't mention the pay, so I may not know until, well the time is submitted to that Daily Pay app. I really didn't want to drive all the way to Orlando but this was one of the closest shifts available, and probably one of the most interesting ones for me. I did change my requirements in the app for travel time, I guess the default was an hour and it was originally at distance traveled which I set at 50, but with this change, they were giving me offers for over a hundred miles away, so I lowered the travel time to 30 minutes, which should keep my close to home, and maybe I will start getting shifts offered in my county. Oh, one other thing about this whole shift claim thing. So far it hasn't shown up in my schedule. I did get a text confirming the shift and that I would get another text 2 hours before the shift, but my field manager can deny any shift claim that he wants, and I'm wondering if he pulled me off the shift. I guess I will find out Monday evening about the time I'm planning on leaving. Yes, I'm leaving about 2 hours early to drive 50 minutes. I want to get there early to find out what the site is about and read over the Post Orders. Post Orders are basically a few pages of documents that tell you exactly what you need to do and even lists procedures in the event of an emergency. It's basically the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) of the site. With that and the officer on duty I should be able to learn everything I need to know about what they do and expect there.

     Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I started to learn Spanish. When I was in high school, I made the mistake of taking 4 years of Latin. Ok, it gave me a good base for understanding language in general, but I was never able to truly speak or understand any other language, and being in security, I'm in contact with a lot of Spanish speaking people. This isn't some creepy desire to know what they are saying, but a desire to better communicate with them. There are two lovely women that I speak to regularly, but I have so speak slowly because they don't understand me. Turns out I talk rather fast, so I'm learning so it will be easier for them and I also get the benefit of learning something new and exciting. I chose the app Babble to learn on and they had a 4th of July special that if I pay a one time fee it basically opens up the app so that I can learn any language that they offer. Once I'm done with Spanish, I might go for French or maybe even Japanese. I don't know, the door is open to learn and I'm going through it.

     Ok, that's about it for me. I just took a quick look at the preview of this post and it appears that the video is there. Success. My dogs are of course my Favorite Thing of the Week, so no song this week. I hope you all have a wonderful week and maybe go learn something new. Peace in and goodnight.

Exciting Stuff

 

     Exciting stuff going on at the ol' work site this week. The picture above is the SLS (Space Launch System) heading back into the VAB. This was a planned return despite what a ton of people will try to tell you on social media. The first launch is scheduled for late August early September. I've been seeing it out on the pad for some time now, as a matter of fact, I got a picture of it and then cropped it so you could see it from what it looks like to me.

     Once again, the phone doesn't really get it as I see it but you get the idea. There was also a launch on Friday and I got the best perspective I could so that you could see it from the pad as it took off. I'm really hoping that this will upload.  

     Ok, the video is uploaded and it says that it's processing, so I'm hoping that you'll get to see it. 

     It's been a long week. I was called into work unexpectedly on Wednesday. Now, I'm not complaining about working, I will never complain about that, but I will complain about being called in and then being lied to. My supervisor tried to tell me that he submitted the schedule last week and that it was up on the app, but I look every morning as well as several times a day, and it wasn't there in the morning, but was miraculously there after he called. Here is what really happened, because he forgets that I was standing there when he took me off the schedule for Wednesday the week before. I had mentioned that the schedule was weird not that I wouldn't work it, but I don't want to take days away from someone else. He messed up and then tried to blame it on us not knowing we were supposed to be there. He had to call in someone to cover the secondary site we work, because he left it unmanned and was going to have to scramble to get someone in on the shift I did if I wasn't able to make it. The new guy is nice, but sometimes nice guys don't get things done, and he is that type.

    His call interrupted my plans for that day. I was slow cooking a roast when he called and I had to pull it out a little early so that it could sit and cool down for me to wrap it up and put it in the fridge. I did get one small bite and despite the early stop time, it was perfect, but I knew that by putting it in the fridge early it wouldn't be the same and I was right. The fridge dried it out a bit, but I'll just heat up the rest and use a dijonaisse with it. It will be fine, but not what I had hoped for. 

    Quick pup update. 

     The Chonk is fitting in nicely and has found his way into the old chair. This was a Baby Girl thing as well. She was the only one that would sleep in that chair and now The Chonk has taken it as his bed. For the most part though he sleeps as close to me as possible. Right now he is under the foot rest of my recliner, just snoring away. At night he still hasn't made it up onto the bed, but that seems to be his choice, because one morning last week he did get up in the bed and kiss attacked me. He instead sleeps right at the edge of the bed in the doorway so that I can't sneak past him. This has caused some issues with Morty and Ri Ri. Morty has to jump over him when he leaves in the middle of the night and if Ri Ri hasn't beaten him to the room then she gets blocked out and has to sleep somewhere else, because she will not try to nudge her way past him. Other than that, they have all be so great together. I couldn't ask for it to be any better than it is with them.

   Well with picking up that extra shift, I did get a full 40 hours this week, and I'm still waiting on news of a possible transfer, but I'm no longer holding on to hope for that anymore. It may be a lot of hot air, in the meantime I've put my application and resume out there for other agencies to see if they can give me fill in time for my schedule or a better offer than what I have.  I'm in a wait and see holding patter for now.

 

     I really haven't thought much about Favorite Song of the Week, so the picture of The Chonk above will have to suffice for Favorite Thing of the Week. It tracks pretty well though, although the one addition would be my whole fur family, but I don't have a picture of all of them this week. 

     Have a great week. Peace in and goodnight.