Like Peasants Sowing Grain
...such is the random nature of my thoughts, sometimes.
--
The starter on the Dreadnought has gone bad. The good news is that everything else (lights, stereo, wipers, etc.) still has power. I called around on starters this morning, and it looks like it's going to run about $45. In other words, about what I would have paid for gas for the beast this paycheck. Alas, I've already spent that money for now. So when the next payday rolls around, I'll be replacing it. That's right, I'll be replacing it. Aaron said it's easy enough that even I can do it. We'll see.
--
I talked to one of my former Bishops last night. He teaches Political Science (sounds like an oxymoron to me) at East High in Salt Lake City. He gave me some information on how to go about getting on the potential substitute teachers list for the Salt Lake school district. I'm going to touch up my résumé and take it down there tomorrow morning. He told me I could expect to be fingerprinted and have a background check run on me. I'm not too worried about any of that. My past has been pretty boring.
Once that's done, he said it could take a couple of weeks before I start getting called in. Once it starts, though, he said I'd need to be ready to go on very little notice on any given morning. That's no surprise. Having grown up with an educator (my mother), I know how the process works. And I'm fine with it. Under normal circumstances, I'm usually up by 6:00 or 6:30 anyway.
I also talked with my current boss about all of this today. He said it wouldn't be a big deal if I get in late from time to time due to this other job. In fact, he's taking the approach that it'll provide good opportunities for other supervisors and managers to learn to do without me. He understands that I'm not going to work here forever, and that's a good thing.
--
We had to fire one of our employees tonight. It was ugly. He was on probation for lack of productivity. That in itself is remarkable. It's not that hard to meet the minimum productivity requirements here. It's almost harder to miss quota than to make it. Failure to meet quota consistently enough to be put on probation requires an extended period of really dedicated slackery.
So the interviewer in question was showing signs problematic behavior. He'd been signed into the job for over half an hour, but hadn't answered any calls. We knew this because the Q.A. manager was listening to him. There was plenty of conversation going on, just not with the people he was getting paid to talk to. So he was called in, told he had violated his probation, and let go.
It did not go well. He claimed that the reason he hadn't been answering calls was because he was dealing with a family emergency on his cell phone. That would be fine, or at least excusable, if it were true. But it wasn't. Our Q.A. manager listened to him on the phone, and he was laughing and joking around. But if it were true, I asked him why he hadn't made someone aware of the situation. He responded with, "Well who was I supposed to tell?" And I said, "Any of us [supervisors]. That's why we're here." His response was classic: "You guys just fired me, why am I supposed to think you'd care about it?" Great logic there, champ.
He stormed out, leaving a trail of shouted obscenities in his wake. That cracked me up, to be honest. Why should he be upset about losing the job, when he didn't even like it well enough to do the job in the first place? Anyway, a few seconds after he left, I heard a loud clanging noise outside. I excused myself and ran outside. I found that he had taken the top off one of the trash cans and slammed it on the sidewalk, breaking off the mounting ring that made it fit onto the can. Sigh. How shall we ever get by without him?
I just hope I don't see the call center in flames on the news tomorrow morning.
--
So I've been engaged for over a week now, and things are going swimmingly. We've talked to all manner of friends and relatives about the upcoming festivities, and it looks like we'll get a good turnout. We've already booked a reception center, the Old Meeting House on Highland Drive. It's a decommissioned LDS chapel, and it's beautiful. Plus it holds a special place in the memories of the in-laws' hearts. And they take care of practically everything, so that will make the preparations much easier on all concerned.
The biggest hurdle now remaining is the marriage ceremony itself. My previous marriage was sealed in the Jordan River (Utah) Temple. Now, to be sealed to Nancy, I have to get clearance / cancellation of the previous one. And that is no small matter. I wrote a letter requesting such a couple of weeks ago and gave it to my Bishop. He has been in contact with Nancy's Bishop and with the ex's Bishop, and has sent a certified letter to the ex herself. So far, she has not responded. We have to wait for an appropriate period before moving on. Then the Bishop will write a letter of his own, and the whole lot will be forwarded to the Stake President. From there, the matter will be escalated to the First Presidency of the church. Then we will get a letter of clearance. This whole process, by all estimates, will probably take until at least Valentine's Day. Once we get the letter, and not before, we can schedule the Temple ceremony. We'll have to see what times are still available on the day that we want. We may have to get married at the crack of dawn, but we'll figure it out.
--
Okay, that's enough for now. I have to get back to work.
--
The starter on the Dreadnought has gone bad. The good news is that everything else (lights, stereo, wipers, etc.) still has power. I called around on starters this morning, and it looks like it's going to run about $45. In other words, about what I would have paid for gas for the beast this paycheck. Alas, I've already spent that money for now. So when the next payday rolls around, I'll be replacing it. That's right, I'll be replacing it. Aaron said it's easy enough that even I can do it. We'll see.
--
I talked to one of my former Bishops last night. He teaches Political Science (sounds like an oxymoron to me) at East High in Salt Lake City. He gave me some information on how to go about getting on the potential substitute teachers list for the Salt Lake school district. I'm going to touch up my résumé and take it down there tomorrow morning. He told me I could expect to be fingerprinted and have a background check run on me. I'm not too worried about any of that. My past has been pretty boring.
Once that's done, he said it could take a couple of weeks before I start getting called in. Once it starts, though, he said I'd need to be ready to go on very little notice on any given morning. That's no surprise. Having grown up with an educator (my mother), I know how the process works. And I'm fine with it. Under normal circumstances, I'm usually up by 6:00 or 6:30 anyway.
I also talked with my current boss about all of this today. He said it wouldn't be a big deal if I get in late from time to time due to this other job. In fact, he's taking the approach that it'll provide good opportunities for other supervisors and managers to learn to do without me. He understands that I'm not going to work here forever, and that's a good thing.
--
We had to fire one of our employees tonight. It was ugly. He was on probation for lack of productivity. That in itself is remarkable. It's not that hard to meet the minimum productivity requirements here. It's almost harder to miss quota than to make it. Failure to meet quota consistently enough to be put on probation requires an extended period of really dedicated slackery.
So the interviewer in question was showing signs problematic behavior. He'd been signed into the job for over half an hour, but hadn't answered any calls. We knew this because the Q.A. manager was listening to him. There was plenty of conversation going on, just not with the people he was getting paid to talk to. So he was called in, told he had violated his probation, and let go.
It did not go well. He claimed that the reason he hadn't been answering calls was because he was dealing with a family emergency on his cell phone. That would be fine, or at least excusable, if it were true. But it wasn't. Our Q.A. manager listened to him on the phone, and he was laughing and joking around. But if it were true, I asked him why he hadn't made someone aware of the situation. He responded with, "Well who was I supposed to tell?" And I said, "Any of us [supervisors]. That's why we're here." His response was classic: "You guys just fired me, why am I supposed to think you'd care about it?" Great logic there, champ.
He stormed out, leaving a trail of shouted obscenities in his wake. That cracked me up, to be honest. Why should he be upset about losing the job, when he didn't even like it well enough to do the job in the first place? Anyway, a few seconds after he left, I heard a loud clanging noise outside. I excused myself and ran outside. I found that he had taken the top off one of the trash cans and slammed it on the sidewalk, breaking off the mounting ring that made it fit onto the can. Sigh. How shall we ever get by without him?
I just hope I don't see the call center in flames on the news tomorrow morning.
--
So I've been engaged for over a week now, and things are going swimmingly. We've talked to all manner of friends and relatives about the upcoming festivities, and it looks like we'll get a good turnout. We've already booked a reception center, the Old Meeting House on Highland Drive. It's a decommissioned LDS chapel, and it's beautiful. Plus it holds a special place in the memories of the in-laws' hearts. And they take care of practically everything, so that will make the preparations much easier on all concerned.
The biggest hurdle now remaining is the marriage ceremony itself. My previous marriage was sealed in the Jordan River (Utah) Temple. Now, to be sealed to Nancy, I have to get clearance / cancellation of the previous one. And that is no small matter. I wrote a letter requesting such a couple of weeks ago and gave it to my Bishop. He has been in contact with Nancy's Bishop and with the ex's Bishop, and has sent a certified letter to the ex herself. So far, she has not responded. We have to wait for an appropriate period before moving on. Then the Bishop will write a letter of his own, and the whole lot will be forwarded to the Stake President. From there, the matter will be escalated to the First Presidency of the church. Then we will get a letter of clearance. This whole process, by all estimates, will probably take until at least Valentine's Day. Once we get the letter, and not before, we can schedule the Temple ceremony. We'll have to see what times are still available on the day that we want. We may have to get married at the crack of dawn, but we'll figure it out.
--
Okay, that's enough for now. I have to get back to work.
posted by Michael at
7:16 PM
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