Winter & work

Six more inches of snow... At least it was dry, fluffy and ice-free, so shoveling the driveway wasn't very difficult. My daughter and I then loaded a couple 80lb. bags of dry cement into the trunk of my car for added traction on our unploughed streets, preparing for my trek into work. The six mile drive only took twice the time and fortunately, was essentially uneventful. So I'm pleased to have shown up to do my job, too bad my company really didn't care... Yeah, they offered double shifts to the work crew before mine and basically didn't need my help. Good planning on their part, but nowadays workers show up for their shift regardless the weather. Anyway, considering the snowfall & low midweek volume, my work area got shut down after a couple of hours and I went home! Oh, and thanks for coming in...

Hey, Congress, Obama's health insurance isn't going to make people quit their jobs, nope not at all. You know what is going to have people leaving their jobs? Working for companies that don't appreciate them and who consistently cut workers' hours. How many part time jobs am I going to need to get a decent week of pay? This wasn't an issue a few years ago. I hired on part time fifteen years ago with a guaranteed 20-25 hours per week. That time frame began averaging in at about 18 hours per week about five years ago and now has dropped again, to average around 12-14 hours per week in the slow volume months. I make more money on my paid vacation weeks; which probably makes me luckier than most, just because I have paid vacations. The challenges of the ever changing modern economy...

In a more positive theme, this decrease in workload allows me valuable time to pursue my education and other business ventures. Creativity is key to making a buck these days. It also helps to not lust after new stuff, and be satisfied with the status quo. Still, I think flexibility and creativity are significant factors to fashion a new lifestyle in a world which increasingly doesn't require as many working humans to function efficiently. Redundancy has hit the global marketplace and folks need to figure out what independent skill or product they can offer which will produce cash rewards. It's all about marketing our talents to our advantage. I think that used to be called "hustling." Not always a positive reference, so let's stay away from the fraud and prostitution, instead focusing on the term in the sense of "energetic or strenuous efforts to secure money or business." This certainly will be my personal challenge for 2014!