2316 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

I knew it was going to be one of those weeks when I woke up to the snow pictured in my “From 29°C to WTF?” post and it did not disappoint.

The night I posted that entry my wife got hit in the head with a steel rod. It seems a co-worker didn’t secure the item properly when they were putting it away and when she went to grab a box it bounced up and hit her above her left eye. She was lucky not to lose an eye but has been suffering with headaches all week since. Likely a concussion that has kept her home and on the couch. To make things worse she also picked up a nasty cold.

At the same time, it is one of the more hectic weeks at work. The staff bid on the lines they would like to work for the next six months. Although I am not directly involved in the bid process, I am responsible for entering the results into our scheduling system. You would think this to be straightforward but it involves a bleep-ton of massaging the data to ensure the upload goes smoothly. If I were building schedules.

I’d start with a master that includes the full staff complement. First, I’d determine what staff require static lines such as those working static Monday to Friday lines or those accommodated schedules. Once that part of the schedule has been determined I move to the biddable schedule and as we never operate at full complement, I’d begin removing extra lines from the master schedule to ensure a balanced distribution of staff across the entire schedule. This would avoid creating areas with overstaffing and others where we operate short.

Unfortunately, that is not how these schedules are built, instead we build the bid schedule first and then add the static lines. The problem is nobody seems to be aware of who is not bidding so it becomes my responsibility to figure out who is missing from the bid schedule and build their static lines and accommodated schedules. It is an inefficient way of assembling a massive jigsaw puzzle that invariably leads to holes in the schedule and people being missed.  Admittedly, it is exacerbated by the fact that I am new to the role, and it is my first time working the back end of the scheduling process.

None of this helps as for the last week to ten days I feel like I’ve been mired in the mud. My motivation is low and my mind is focused on other things. The cost of living, my daughter’s summer baseball schedule, ongoing car problems and of course my wife’s health are all weighing on my mind. Oh yeah, and that damned snow that has reared its ugly head again after a week of summer weather in April!

So it has been nothing but vegging in front of the TV and listening to music. I have spent countless hours watching the Leafs, Blue Jays and the Netflix show “The Last Kingdom” or listening to homegrown artist JJ Wilde.

Five Word Weekly Challenge

Four Line Fiction Challenge

More highlights from Greg’s Blog…

Around the Blogosphere…

Next week…

Look for the usual features, Five Word Weekly, Four Line Fiction and T-Shirt wisdom Wednesday. I said it last week and will say it again… Hopefully, some more new posts too.

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2315 – Sunday Digest: The Week in Review

What a record-breaking week. The temperatures here for the last few days have set records across the board. Dry warm April weather that coincided with my day of rest. For those wondering I work a five days on, four days off rotating schedule so my off days shift and this week I happened to luck out and be off for some beautiful sunny days. As I return to work for the coming week the temperatures will drop to more seasonal.

The nice weather has made for a productive week. The previous owners of my home had built all the decking from old skids. What?!?!? Yeah, I said the same thing. That wood is the cheapest, softest, that was likely pest treated but is nothing remotely water or weatherproof. Sure on the deck in the back, they covered it with composite deck board but a pig with lipstick is still just a pig. The front they didn’t even try and hide it. It was covered in spruce or pine boards that they then just painted grey.

The front deck was so bad that I fell through the top last fall. It was only a skids depth, about 11cm (5″) but I was worried that my wife, son, the neighbour’s kids or the mail carrier would fall through and break an ankle. The last thing I need is to be sued by a neighbour or the post office.

The other problem with using skids is the space it leaves beneath the deck boards is perfect for all sorts of wildlife. Last year I used some old stone and pavers to evict a family of skunks and several chipmunks. Both can be very destructive to home foundations.

For the record, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. It appears my vehicle requires new ball joints and/or tie rods. A fairly expensive job. I am pretty handy and after watching some YouTube videos thought I’d take a stab myself. I’ve done car work before and this didn’t look all that hard to do until I got the car up on blocks and realized that I’d developed a fear of going under the car. Just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Pretty sure it stems from an incident several years back when I was changing breaks. I had the car on the jack and had been sitting with my legs under the vehicle as I worked. I got up to grab a drink of water and when I came back outside the chocks had failed and the jack tipped, spilling the car onto the driveway. Five minutes sooner and I’d have lost my leg for sure. Thank God the car was not damaged either but I think the only way I could get under a car now is if I had a proper lift and I don’t see ever getting one. So I guess it’s off to the mechanic. My guy is pretty good but the job will still be expensive.

Working outside I had to have some loud music playing. Something heavy and I found myself listening to the Italian outfit Måneskin. We saw them live a few months back and the music rocks!

Now for the ‘week in review’…

Five Word Weekly Challenge

Four Line Fiction Challenge

More highlights from Greg’s Blog…

16. Revenge: The Captive Soul | The four-part 16th installment of the Revenge Series written for several of Sammi Cox’s #WeekendWritingPrompt. I will eventually catch up on all of them.

T-Shirt Wisdom Wednesday

The Karaoke Cowboy | Written in response to Fandango’s Provocative Question (#fpq) The fifteenth installment in the Revenge series revealed the darkness Charlie holds within.

Decapod Delights | Written as a response to Rebecca at Fake Flamenco‘s April poetry challenge featuring sea creatures.

Around the Blogosphere…

With The nice weather and the return of baseball, I did not get much reading/blog surfing done this week.

Next week…

Look for another Five Word Weekly, Four Line Fiction. I said it last week and will say it again… Hopefully, some more new posts too.

My Blue Jays dealt the Tampa Bay Rays their first loss of the season. snapping their 13-0 start to the 2023 campaign. Thirteen straight is an impressive feat even against weaker opponents but they did not fair quite as well against another World Series contender. One of the best quotes after the streak-snapping Toronto victory was the Wizard of Oz-esque, “Yes Tampa, you’re not in Washington anymore!” referring to the woefully inept Washington Nationals who the Rays had previously swept.

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