my reward system

 

I made a deal with myself a while ago. I promised myself that I would not see The Avengers until I finished my final paper. The paper's not due until next week but the last showing for The Avengers at any local independent theater was tonight so I was pressed to get it done before today. I pretty much finished it on Tuesday and did the final touches yesterday quick before going to class. I turned it in and now I was free to enjoy my movie!

Before the film, I went to Sock Dreams as an additional reward and then to Stickers, pictured above, for some food and drink. The movie was pretty much everything I was expecting and more. Not only was it the ultimate superhero movie but it was written and directed by Joss Whedon who can do no wrong in my book!

stumbling blocks

I don't have a picture for my new thing today but the above pic is symbolic of how I feel right now. Actually, I'm a lot more pissed than that but it's at least an adequate representation of my job situation. Near the end of last year, one of my clients, Jane (that's not her name but for privacy's sake, I don't want to use her real name or initials) stated she wanted to learn how to cashier. Jane has attendance issues though so I told her that cashiers have to be reliable and I would like her to work on her attendance before proceeded with cashiering. We've never had a client cashier before so it's kind of a big deal.

Jane's attendance improved slightly but she never really hit the perfect attendance mark. In March, she told me that she was going through a different vocational rehab program to get a community job. She's quite capable of working in the community so I figured it was a sure thing. I did the cashier test with her and she passed it with some assistance. In helping her take the test and come up with the answers, I really felt that I was helping make a difference for her. I then set it up for her to come to the official cashier training that all cashiers have to attend. The HR department came and talked to me, concerned about her ability to operate a register successfully. I told them that she would always be supervised while on a register and they finally agreed.

Jane passed the cashier training with no problem and we did a trial run on a register in April but she couldn't remember her cashier password. I contacted our cashier trainer to get her password reset but he never got back to me. I persisted and finally just cornered him in his cubicle. He stated that HR didn't have her classified in the system as a cashier. She was in the system as a client and clients haven't been cashiers. I then went to HR and asked them if I could get clearance to be a cashier and she could cashier with me under my classification. They stated that it was a fault in the system but she could be put in daily if I contacted the trainer and had her put in each day I trained with her. The system would then reset itself and her profile in the system would be deleted after that day. Then came the contract.

A guy from our business office brought my direct supervisor a contract that I was to sign every time I cashiered with her. It stated that I would be responsible for her register and that if she was off on her till or if she attempted to use the register to defraud the company (?), I would face the disciplinary action up to and including termination. I wasn't happy the idea but I really wanted Jane to be able to cashier so I signed the contract. She did an awesome job on the register as I went out each week and worked with her on there for 30-60 minutes at a time. It quickly became the thing she looked forward to most and also it was the most rewarding part of my job. Plus I found out that the other vocational rehab program didn't think that Jane was ready so I was determined to prove them wrong and help get her ready for community employment.

Before our accreditation last week, my big boss emailed me and my direct supervisor, wanting to know if Jane was cashiering and then wanting to make sure I brought it up to the surveyors which I did. However, the idea of the contract didn't sit well with me. I didn't understand why I needed to put my job on the line in order to provide training for my client. Wasn't that my job after all? Isn't that our mission? So I talked to the HR director about it today. He said the contract was silly and even questioned why Jane wasn't paid a cashier's wage. He brought in another HR person to answer that question for us. The other HR person said he also saw the contract and stated that he wouldn't have signed it if he was me. The director said he would revise the contract to say that I would just familiarize myself with the cash control procedure and I would make sure Jane was familiar with it and I would supervise her on the register. Then he said I could continue to cashier with her even though he hadn't finalized the contract.

Twenty minutes later, my big boss calls me. She's been out sick for the past two months but she's been staying in touch via e-mail. However, today's the first day she's called me in two months so I assumed it was about Jane. Sure enough, she said that she was just following up with some business and she seemed to remember that I had a client that cashiered. I guess she forgot the e-mail she sent to me right before the accreditation. I filled her in then on the whole story although I had been filling the whole department in each week at the staff meetings. She then asked about the contract, saying, "I hear that you have to sign something that says you'll give away your first born." I knew that the HR director had to have called her but I told her that I just talked to him and he said he would revise the contract. She said that all sounded good and let it go at that. Ten minutes later, she sent out an e-mail to everyone in my department and all of the stores' district managers, stating that, if they have a client that cashiers, they should refrain from having them cashier until she does some "analysis" on the job.

So I'm pissed. I've gone through a hell of a lot to make sure that this could happen. I've jumped through multiple hoops, talked to each department but marketing, bragged about it to our surveyors, and had to put my job on the line to get it done and now, it's suspended. Just. Like. That. The hardest part was the it was something Jane was very proud of herself for doing and something I really loved doing as well. I had other clients that were interested in it as well but now nobody can do it. I feel like if I hadn't complained about having to put my job on the line each time by signing some stupid contract, Jane would still be able to cashier.

Moreover, I feel like my job just got dumbed-down. We passed our accreditation and now we can stop trying to excel and go back to providing the bare bones of mediocrity in order to ensure our non-profit status so we can continue to make a profit. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to properly express my frustrations because I believe that it's important to keep this fire lit under me. Otherwise, what's the point?

What else?
Yesterday, I spent 9+ hours writing my final paper for my counseling class. I didn't finish yesterday although I got eight pages done before I figuratively hit the wall and had to stop to watch some Beavis and Butthead and drink some wine to kill my exhausted brain cells. However, I pretty much finished it today!!!

ferris wheel on my day off

Andrew and I rode the ferris wheel and the gigantic swing thing that whips you over the Morrison Bridge. Silly fun!

kiss the rain

It was one of those moments that I will treasure. We were biking back from the St John's Bridge as another thunderstorm rolled upon us. Thunder, lightning, wind, and then rain. Lots and lot of rain. I've never felt like I have biked through solid water before today. We were in northwest Portland and we tried to keep going but had to stop and I found an awning in front of a closed store. We were cold and wet and overwhelmed by the weather but we had each other. It was one of those things I would dream about as I watched an afternoon full of soap operas when I was a kid. Sigh.

What else?
On a side note, we stopped at Proper Eats for most kick-ass Tempeh Reuben ever.

fireworks: man vs nature

The Rose Fest fireworks show happened tonight. Andrew and I went down there with Victory and Ashes. It was Andrew's first time going to see them. We went really close to the water's edge and watched them without many other people around. I think a lot of people were scared off because there was a thunderstorm just a few hours earlier. Those are so rare here that I bet a lot of people just stayed indoors. It was my first thunderstorm in Muffin HQ. I hope we get more of them this year!

What else?
On Wednesday 5/23, we finished our accreditation process. I remember last time we were accredited, I was thrilled with the results. This year, I couldn't have really cared less. I don't think that it's a true survey or that we had to answer for much.

On Thursday, 5/24, Andrew and I went to the Caldera Pub House where I had the Tabor Salad for the first time! Sooooo good.

3D for free

Dominic asked me today if I was still in love jail. For those of you that don't know, love jail is when your relationship isolates you from your friends. If anything, I've been in a love jail with Dean for the past 10 years. I don't think that Andrew and I are at this point, nor will we get there. He's pretty social and likes my friends. However, I have been less than social with some of my friends lately due to time constraints so I decided to set aside some Dom time today and go to Men in Black 3D with him today since he had free screener passes. All it cost me was time and that I got to spend with Dom and it was even a 3D movie. That's like $13 or so. Sweet!

I couldn't get a picture of it all though. They told us to put our cameras and cell-phones in the car. They checked bags and even waved metal detectors at us. So, since I don't have a picture of the movie, here's a random shot to Sir Elton John, performing Pinball Wizard.

What else?
We're having our CARF accreditation at work. This is the second time I've been through this in this position and the fourth time I've been through it with the company so I'm not really all that nervous or concerned. On Monday 5/21, I went with the surveyor and a district manager to my stores and stopped at a sushi place (which was new to me) on the way. Today, we went to two other stores and stopped at Sweet Betty's in Gresham. It was a surprisingly awesome place. I'd love to go back there...but it's in Gresham.

eclipsed

There was a solar eclipse today. They say you're not supposed to look directly at it. However, there was just enough cloud cover in Portland to make it safe but still visible. I was unaware of how quickly these things happened. I was biking home from watching a Timbers game at 442 and I looked up to see that it was maybe 40% covered. I biked two more blocks, looked up again and saw the image pictured above. I don't think I've ever looked at a solar eclipse before. Being the superhero geek I am, I was hoping that this would be when I got my superpowers. C'mon telekinesis!

What else?

I went to Knott Park today with Dean to watch Ashes play soccer on his team Pelada against Old Growth, a group sponsored by the Timbers for over 40 people. They played for 120 minutes and the score was 11-0 Pelada. It was fun to watch it, even if it was in the rain.

On Tuesday 5/15, I tried a different kind of the Mac & Cheese at Herb's cart.

On Wednesday 5/16, Andrew and I went to Proof for the first time. They had good drinks and okay food.

On Friday 5/18, I found out that I got a raise! It's only 2% but it's still the first raise I've had in years (due to them paying for my schooling).

On Saturday, 5/19, Andrew and I hung out, walked around and went to A Better Cycle for the first time, just because we were passing by and I needed a new thing for the day.

door it yourself

Our screen door has been a constant problem since I moved in. The top two hinges were broken so we've had to lift the door up slightly when we close it. I've been trying to fix it for a while now, putting more screws in here and there but it's never lasted. On Friday, Dean ran up to bark at the mailman when the screen door was closed. I wasn't too worried about it but then Dean threw his shoulder into the door and it opened. Fortunately, he came right back. Yesterday, I came home to find the door off of the hinges and leaning against the front porch railing. Now the problem was undeniable and needed to be fixed.

Sophia and I took my first tour of the Rebuilding Center after I measured the door frame. We found several doors that we liked but only one that would fit and had the hinges on the right side of the door. We managed to fit more than half of it in my trunk and Sophia tied it down. When we got it home, I took the old hinges/frame off, took the spacers out of the doorway, and screwed in new holes. The latch wasn't at the right height and wasn't the right width so I had to mess around with that for a little bit but I managed to get it installed. I then bought some white spray paint to take care of the rust color on the mesh pictured above and a few more screws to set the door in properly.

Overall, the door cost $10, the can of paint was $3 and the screws were $1 but the satisfaction of having put a new/old door onto the house (that I like a lot better than the previous door) is priceless.

What else?
To celebrate, I checked out a new comic DMZ from the library and read it on the front porch. I also have a set of solar-powered Christmas lights on the porch so I had a little more light and was able to read past sunset. I'm sooooo ready for summer.

cemetery men

This weekend's long bike ride wasn't that long but it did have a significant incline at the end. Andrew and I headed up to Riverview Cemetery for my first visit there. Apparently, bicyclists really enjoyed biking up in the cemetery and the caretakers were opposed to them biking through. However, they figured if you can't beat 'em, join 'em and they established bike routes around the cemetery.

Although I don't care for hanging out in cemeteries, it was a beautiful, quiet spot and I was quite tired from biking up the hill so we sat down in between plots and played some cards. It seems wrong somehow but we weren't being disrespectful or anything. In fact, we were reading the tombstones so, in a way, we were remembering the dead.

Afterwards, we dined at Night Light and went to Rimsky Korsakoffee for dessert (where I sat at the vibrating table for the first time). Then, we decided we needed to work off the ice cream and went over to hang out in the Lonesome Fir cemetery. Unfortunately, we encountered a lot of people (and oddly enough, only women) so there wasn't much quiet time. Still, it was a great day.

vision issues

I had vision problems today as I just couldn't see myself going into work on a beautiful day like this so I called in sick. I spent most of the day researching and reading for my final paper of the quarter which isn't due for another month but I want to get it out of the way. While I read on the front porch, Dean made a nest in the yard. I wish everyday could be this easy.

What else?
Jesse is going through nutritional therapy training so I opted to be a test subject for him and he gave me my evaluation today. I think that I do pretty well nutritionally but he made some good suggestions that I will follow. Mostly, I've been doing better lately because I gave up coffee everyday a few weeks ago. I started drinking yerba mate which tastes a lot better (so I don't need to add as much sugar) and the "caffeine" buzz is a lot more mellow. Plus I've been able to sleep better so I've been able to cut out the melatonin. Yay for living naturally. Work isn't natural.

It's a complete guilty pleasure that started with boredom and became a good addictive show but the Vampire Diaries finale kind of blew me away yesterday. I don't know why I proudly proclaim that I am a Buffy or Glee fan but for some reason, I keep VD (heh heh) in my closet. It's actually very well written once you get past the first seven episodes of the first season.

On 5/7, I toured a newly constructed store in my company for the first time in order to take one of their clients on a tour of one of my stores. While me and his case manager were heading back to our office, we saw a car stopped at the railroad crossing and the crossing bar slammed down on their hood. Ha ha ha ha.

hiking behind falls

 

 

We've all needed a break after this past week and I've been itching to get to Silver Falls for a while now. It's unlike any other place in that you get to walk behind so many waterfalls. Ashes, Victory, Andrew and I went out there today. I've only been around the falls one other time with my parents years ago but I got to see more of the park today. The nice thing is that there's still so much more to see so I get to come back sometime down the road and explore even more.

What else?

On Friday 5/4, my new thing was taking a client to the Cinco De Mayo celebration on the waterfront. It would have been better if it hadn't rained the whole time we were there but we got the chance to look around and see the dancers for a quick moment.

no justice, no peace

One of my friends was arrested earlier this week and his arraignment was today. He faces 72 felony counts. Half of them are vandalism. The other half are conspiracy to create vandalism. I'd say all of them are crap. It's a fishing expedition, designed to get people worked up and talking and snitching. Hopefully, people are smarter than that. His bail is twice as much as some murderers get. This justice system is so damn flawed.

I would say around 125 people came down to the courthouse today for his arraignment. They didn't even let him in the courtroom but had him broadcast over a TV. Nothing much happened at the arraignment but they set a trial date. I'm hoping that they get some if not most or all of the charges dropped. I've known him for about eight years now. He's a really good person and hasn't done anything even remotely violent. It's just not fair.

may day 2012

 

It's MayDay. This year, my friends made a bunch of signs with pictures of anarchists that have passed on. I met them down there and was handed a sign after a while along with zines which detailed who each of the anarchists were. It was a well-attended march and well received. I didn't truly celebrate since I didn't skip out on work but I did work half-assed. :)

What else?
Well, one thing I did do at work today was almost attack a 60 year old cowboy. He made a pass at one of my clients (who's 25) and it made her so uncomfortable she started crying. Unfortunately, he drove off before I could confront him.