Nothing is Routine
My former supervisor Otto Pluntz used to say that with respect to sick-leave usage, the lack of a pattern was itself a pattern. I think the same could be said of what used to be my normal routine. I no longer have one and that has become my new routine. We're getting ready for a bunch of dominos to fall in our main level remodel project and Tammy and I are doing our best to stay ahead of the tasks we need to accomplish. Normal routines have been put on hold for the next 6 weeks or more. 
Keith and Jason were here Tuesday morning to remove our kitchen cabinets. Keith has a friend who wanted them for his basement and garage so I gave up my parking space in the garage for a couple nights until Emmett could pick them up. We're happy to know they'll have a fate better than a landfill.
Our kitchen is mostly useless now so we're sorta camping inside, eating off paper plates with plastic utensils. I'm not complaining but I do miss my routine—and our kitchen sink.
We stopped by Keith's shop to see how our cabinets are coming along. They look like they're ready for their new home!
This coming week will be a busy one with Joe coming tomorrow to begin opening the wall between our kitchen and front room as well as some other construction-related jobs on his to-do list for us. Steve will also be coming sometime this week to help with the electrical once Joe is ready for us. I spent a few hours in the attic space above the kitchen yesterday building a catwalk from plywood sheets Keith cut up for me to use. Rachel and Drew spent the day spelunking and I couldn't help but think they could've enjoyed the same experience in our attic and allowed me to relax and enjoy televised coverage of the U.S. Open golf championship.
Tammy leaves with the pups for Babbitt tomorrow to spend time with Cindy for the next two weeks. Not having the pups to worry about will help, especially with Charlie. He loves to sneak out and explore our backyard and Ruth's yard behind us where she has two pups.
Jenny (our neighbor across the street) saw a coyote walking across her front lawn with a small animal in its mouth a few days ago. That's my biggest concern.
Dublin is staying with us again while Claudia is away. This is his 3rd extended stay here in the past year and he's become quite comfortable with us, barking at visitors and protecting our home like it was his own. He's quite the character.
I've spent so little time online lately and I'm finding I like life better that way. I still make a quick lap around the pattern in the morning and at night but for the most part, I'm avoiding the touch-and-goes throughout the day the way I used to. The news is too depressing to subject myself to more of it than is necessary. There are enough other things to easily fill my days.
Here's a quick snippet of some video I took from yesterday's attic project. Note the creepy heavy breathing through my face mask. It sorta reminds me of a horror movie scene where the methodically moving, relentless bad guy is seeking his prey.
And speaking of the attic project—it's time to don my mask and headlamp and get busy again. My work isn't done up there.
Keith and Jason were here Tuesday morning to remove our kitchen cabinets. Keith has a friend who wanted them for his basement and garage so I gave up my parking space in the garage for a couple nights until Emmett could pick them up. We're happy to know they'll have a fate better than a landfill.
Our kitchen is mostly useless now so we're sorta camping inside, eating off paper plates with plastic utensils. I'm not complaining but I do miss my routine—and our kitchen sink.
We stopped by Keith's shop to see how our cabinets are coming along. They look like they're ready for their new home!
This coming week will be a busy one with Joe coming tomorrow to begin opening the wall between our kitchen and front room as well as some other construction-related jobs on his to-do list for us. Steve will also be coming sometime this week to help with the electrical once Joe is ready for us. I spent a few hours in the attic space above the kitchen yesterday building a catwalk from plywood sheets Keith cut up for me to use. Rachel and Drew spent the day spelunking and I couldn't help but think they could've enjoyed the same experience in our attic and allowed me to relax and enjoy televised coverage of the U.S. Open golf championship.
Tammy leaves with the pups for Babbitt tomorrow to spend time with Cindy for the next two weeks. Not having the pups to worry about will help, especially with Charlie. He loves to sneak out and explore our backyard and Ruth's yard behind us where she has two pups.
Jenny (our neighbor across the street) saw a coyote walking across her front lawn with a small animal in its mouth a few days ago. That's my biggest concern.Dublin is staying with us again while Claudia is away. This is his 3rd extended stay here in the past year and he's become quite comfortable with us, barking at visitors and protecting our home like it was his own. He's quite the character.
I've spent so little time online lately and I'm finding I like life better that way. I still make a quick lap around the pattern in the morning and at night but for the most part, I'm avoiding the touch-and-goes throughout the day the way I used to. The news is too depressing to subject myself to more of it than is necessary. There are enough other things to easily fill my days.
Here's a quick snippet of some video I took from yesterday's attic project. Note the creepy heavy breathing through my face mask. It sorta reminds me of a horror movie scene where the methodically moving, relentless bad guy is seeking his prey.
And speaking of the attic project—it's time to don my mask and headlamp and get busy again. My work isn't done up there.
Comments
I once had a Supe try to write up an employee claiming that nearly half of his sick days were in conjunction with his days off.
I had to show him how the math. If the odds of taking sick leave on any given day during the week are 1 in 5 and it turns out that there is no particular pattern of usage, then the odds of a sick day being in conjunction with a weekend is 40%. A slight variation of that hardly constitutes a pattern.
I have to admit, I did have a few good supervisors in my career, but most of them were just morons.