The Bitching Thread 2.0

I knew it was coming, but that doesn't make it any easier to deal with. Especially now with several other reminders of things that just never panned out practically got shoved in my face.

The latest Win 10 update seems to have messed with... ...something. At first I thought it might just be a usb drive, but now it seems to crash trying to go through my mp3s etc.

My last two days of vacation. At least the snow is gone and the temperatures are reasonable. Now I can start the countdown to next year's winter vacation. Can't even look forward to any upcoming holidays because the company usually makes us work those now.

I get to look forward to that first awkward day back where I have to try and remember everything. Even after 9 years, every time I come back from vacation I have to spend my first shift relearning the intricacies of the machines. At least my first three shifts back are night shifts so I don't have to worry about dealing with any management.

Finished my first three shifts in a row back from work. It's funny because I thought I was supposed to work the night shifts, but at 7am Friday morning I get a text from my supervisor telling me there is a harassment meeting at 7. Now I'm lying in bed and figuring I was working the night shift that night and had stayed up all night so I could sleep in the day. I had only been asleep for an hour or so and woke up to that text and reply back, 7 tonight? He says, no right now. I text back I'm not even at work. He responds, overslept? No, I thought I was supposed to be in tonight. The harassment meeting wasn't anything to do with me personally, it was just one of those company things where they make everyone watch a workplace harassment film and then sign a document saying you will abide by it.
I'd like to think this harassment thing would accomplish something, but from past experience when you're being harassed by people above you and they're friends with a lot of other people above you, even if something happens when you report it, they just wait for a chance to retaliate against you like they did to Jeremy.

So I was in by 8am and I still had 4 hours of unused vacation time. He said he would just take an hour out of that to cover for my absence and I wouldn't get penalized for lateness. On the good side he did give me my perfect attendance letter for last year telling me I would be getting the $200 bonus. Doesn't even seem worth it when you have to wait 6 months into the next year before you get it, but I'll stick it into the the PS5 fund, which I still haven't found yet. I also ended up getting a $160 tax return that day as well which really surprised me as I usually only get around $50.

Only thing that changed at work while I was gone was all the workplace covid restrictions have finally been lifted.

Definitely not used to working three shifts in a row, the last six hours of shift three I was hurting. We have two people in my shop who may be out permanently with back injuries. One for sure, she'll end up getting a desk job but as an avid competitive horse rider, I think those days are coming to an end for her.
So they started training a couple new people in the shop on Friday. From what I hear they still aren't using the on calls, but I think that may start up again soon as I see they have the April on-call sheet up with me being on call night shift of April 26th. I know I said I might sleaze my way out of it if I got called in, but now with new Blade Runner merch on the horizon I may just suck it up and end up doing it if I do get called in.

After 9 years, I've long since stopped questioning the corporate bureaucracy involved in having a full time job in a production plant. I tell people at work now that my personal philosophy is to put in my ear buds, keep my mouth shut, put in my hours and get out. It's a non-unionized workplace so you pretty much have to accept whatever they tell you.

I've been in retail for a long time but having to retrieve shopping carts from the parking lot as part of my job has been a fresh reminder of the ways customers can fail to show consideration for other people. Even when they leave them in the store it's not uncommon for someone to have done a half-assed job of putting theirs back with the other carts.