3+1=4

For those of you that do not know, we (as in the Mrs. and I) have added a baby to the clan. Things have been busy so I'll post pics later. I've got a really good one of TaterTot holding the new baby that she is going to kill me for posting. Check back soon.

More is Never Enough

I'm the king of guy that believes in a fair deal. I believe that a person should be compensated (we're not talking only pay) according to their value to an organization. I'm knee deep in negotiations with my current employer about my value to their business and it's taking an act of Congress to get anything resolved but that story is reserved for the Money Talks, Bullshit Walks narrative.
So I came across this story today, Ex-Exxon CEO's Massive Pension Draws Fire. I know we have all heard about how CEO pay is up 1200% in the last 10 years compared to how real wages for the majority of Americans is around -15% but this is a kick in the teeth. I'm fighting my employer for a living wage (which still wouldn't allow me to buy into their health care plan) and this guy doesn't even work for the company any longer and is drawing more than I'll see in a lifetime seven times over.
I don't expect to be a wealthy person. I just would like to be able to make a living, own a modest home, and provide for my family.

Money Talks, Bullshit Walks Part 2

So as I was saying, I was working in the Garden department at the multi-national home improvement retail chain. The Summer selling season was coming to a close (this is in the middle of June) and all the staff that was brought into Garden needed to move to other departments in the store due to the drop in work load. Rumors started to circulate regarding which people were going to what department. My department head mentioned that it was pretty certain that I would be going to Hardware. It wasn't my first choice but I could live with it. Besides, I was still looking for a different job.
One of the other people that was hired at the same time as me to work in Garden had been approached by the Human Resources Manager to see if they would like to work in the Kitchens Department as a kitchen designer. This person said yes and was approached again about three weeks later by the Human Resources Manager and was told that the Store Manager just needed to "sign off" on the department switch. All the extra workers in the Garden department were told on a Thursday that we would switch to our new departments on the coming Monday. On Saturday I was approached by the person that does the scheduling for the store and sets up the training. They asked if I had been told that I was going to the Kitchen department. I replied that I had not. They then went on to tell me that starting Monday, which was in 2 days, I would be in training for the next month for kitchen design, at a store 65 miles away.
Holy Crap! Talk about being blind-sided. So I had to scramble to set up day care arrangements for my son, which to be fair was rather easy but there was no way the store management could have known that. I kind of got the feeling that I was being taken for granted but I swallowed whatever annoyance I had because I was going from a Standard department to a Specialty department. Specialty departments are areas of the store that handle complex products or services, such as kitchen design, flooring, or doors and windows. From what I could tell there was to be a pay increase when you switch to a Specialty department. This was the rumor that I picked up from the other workers in Standard departments. The potential of a pay increase eased any tension I felt about the short notice for my impending training that would add a 3 hour commute to my work day.
The other person that was told that they were going to Kitchens of course wasn't very happy about the whole situation. Before the Human Resources Manager could get the Store Manager to "sign off" on the department switch the Human Resources Manager got themselves fired. It was quite a fiasco and a story that I may share later. As it turns out the only reason I got the job in Kitchens was because of the way that I handled customers, which is to say that my customer service was A #1 Top-Notch.
More to come...

Money Talks, Bullshit Walks Part 1

There is nothing in the world that drives me crazy more than someone stickin' it to me. Not simply being taken for granted, more along the lines of someone going out their way to make sure that you're getting a raw deal. For those of you that don't know me you should know that I work for a multi-national home improvement retail chain and let me tell you it has been one raw deal after another.
The saga starts in the Spring of 2005. I had been looking for a job for about 4 months after we moved back to the area where our friends and family were located. I had a freshly minted B.A. and eight years of military experience In the U.S.M.C. as well as other skills and experience that would make me extraordinarily valuable to any employer. Or so I thought. Turns out moving back home was a bad move. The economy was sluggish, one of the worst areas in the country at the time. Jobs were few and far between and employers could have the best workers in the area for sub-par wages. I trolled for hours for "junk jobs", so called because they were not what I wanted to do when I grew up. I landed an interview here and there but nothing panned out.
When I got the call to attend an interview for the multi-national home improvement chain I really didn't think I would get a job with them. They had several openings and asked which department I preferred. I chose Appliances. How hard can it be sell washers and dryers. They called four days later and offered me a Garden position as the Power Equipment Specialist. Instead of washers and dryers I would be selling lawn mowers and weed trimmers. The pay was $10.50 to start and in three months it would go up to $11, no commission. Seemed fair to me, besides I would be looking for another job in the meantime.
I started this job while there was still frost on the ground and the store was getting ready for the Summer selling season. I learned a ton about plants, power equipment, brick/block and grills. I also learned that retail hours suck big time. You could be scheduled anywhere from 6:00 A.M. to 11:00 P.M. and it was not uncommon to 1) stay until 1 A.M. just to get things done because the store is always short on staff and 2) even though you were scheduled until 11:00 P.M. (but stayed until 1:00 A.M.) you would have to be back to work at 6:00 A.M. the next morning. Everyone knew that it was common sense not give back to back shifts because whoever got them would be toast on the back end shift and not very useful for the entire day. It was brought to management's attention more than once but nothing ever changed. But it was a learning experience and I didn't mind the job for the most part. It was also at this time that I learned that I have a great aptitude for customer service and this would serve me well later on.

I'm breaking this story into chunks because it's rather large. More to come...