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.
No comments:
Post a Comment