Thin line to tread

In April I hired a young woman for the lab, to run the washing machines. She had interviewed well, having put on the best she had in the way of clothes and letting me know she needed a job without the usual begging. It took about 2 days to figure out she was capable of more than running washers and dryers, and through course of conversation I learned she had 1 year of the Microsoft curiculum at the local trade school. At this time I was also looking for a clerk to handle all the inventory and lotting requirements I've been handling, as well as be a part-time secretary. I decided to give her a try. To make a long story short, she did better than I expected, assimilated the job plus a lot more in a month and a half, and has been a real benefit.

Obviously, since her desk is in the ante-room coming into my office, we interact a lot. I like to get to know all the people who work for me (often considered a weakness by my superiors) but have learned a lot about this one in particular. She is 24 and a single mother (never married). The father of the baby is drug dealer and she has served 4 months herself for being a 'mule'. She talks extensively about wanting to seperate herself from her past as a drug addict. Her baby spent part of the time she was in jail with a foster family, part of it with her family. She does not qualify for State assistance with health care and child rearing because she refuses to officially name the baby's father as such. Georgia has a law requiring this in order for mothers to get assistance, the State then goes out and recovers expenses from the deadbeat dads. The problem? If she names him in order to get the assistance, he automaticaly gets visitation and partial custody, and she doesn't want the baby exposed to the drugs, etc, he is involved with. So she chooses to tough it out and go it alone.

She has been doing good with her efforts to start a new life, but 3 weeks ago she started dating one of the contractors working for me. Since that time, her performance has dropped off, she looks like she is not getting enough sleep, and there have been a couple of days I have suspected she has been on something other than caffeine. Her attendance has deteriorated, and by the book I should have fired her this past Thursday based on attendance during her 90 day probationary period. Instead I had a long heart to heart about lifestyle choices, and how close she was to losing the job.

So, there are 2 days left in her probationary period. She becomes eligible for our health insurance on Wednesday. If she signs on, then goes into rehab, it's a problem. We are a small self-insured company. The premiums we all pay are based on total expenditures. There are 112 employees on our insurance at the moment. If she becomes #113, then we spend $100,000 on rehab, everyone elses premium goes up by $892/year or $74/month. Do I have an obligation to all the rest of the employees to avoid this risk? Or does this girl deserve a chance to turn her life around? Despite anecdotal evidence she is still making bad choices?

Aiy aiy aiy. I have 48 hours to decide.

Ain't life as a rich white guy boss a piece of cake?

So, do I take it back, or not....

Turns out the "something the wife had going on" on Memorial Day that kept the boss away from work was a battery of medical tests. After expressing that I hoped everything was o.k., etc, etc, he said, in a Snidely Whiplash voice,

"hehehe, I bet you all cussed my name all day that day, didn't you? Well. you never know"

Asshat

Un-Fucking-Believable

So, we're starting up a new piece of equipment. My boss, President of the company, is with us. He has a nasty habit of chewing tobacco and spitting in the nearest receptacle. Usually it's the nearest garbage can, but this being a brand new machine we don't have cans out there yet. So what's a man to do? Mostly he spit in a pile of rags which would soon have to be picked up by my new hire operator, a 19 year old name Tony. Soon after the Boss walks off Tony picks up his Dr. Pepper sitting on the operators station and, in that 19 year old boy way, throws about 1/2 of it down in one gulp.

Then throws up (literally) all over the electrical console and operators station.

You guessed it- his drink was full of tobacco juice.

I know everyone bitches about their boss, but I'm telling you- mine has serious issues. Everyone who works here is just a piece of property to him.

It's official

My boss is a jerk. About 9:00 he called me on my cell phone

"Where are you"

"I'm leaving the shop heading back toward FR"

"I'm in your office. Come meet me here."

So, I go back and find him just outside my office. We go in and sit down, and chit-chat about production and the new equipment we're buying. Directly he says

"Tell your regular salaried guys they'll be getting a check Thursday. It's a supplemental check for them working Monday. You and Jack don't get one."

"O.K. I'm sure they will appreciate the gesture"

"Goddammit G (the owner) is making me do it."

"Oh"

"So, what you doing this weekend?"

"I don't know. Rootie left town for a few days with #4, the others are off with friends whose families are going to the beach or something for the weekend"

"So, you're a bachelor this weekend"

"Yeah, I guess so"

"Lucky bastard. I wish I was, I'd go play golf. Anyway, enjoy the weekend"

"You too. I'll see you Monday morning"

Then, as he walks out my door he says, very sheepishly, "I won't be here Monday. The wife's got somethin going on"

Mother Fucker

Uncanny

Scott Adams hits just a little too close to home, sometimes

Hmmm

So, the HR Manager comes up to me a little while ago and says "The Chief asked me if I knew why you was so agitated. He said you seemed to be a lot more uptight than he's ever seen you."

Think fast Daddio......

"Well, it might have something to do with never seeing my family, and my wife's announcement that if I wasn't going to be around for the (non) holiday weekend then she was leaving to find someone to talk to for a few days."

"Damn"

"Yeah, and since The Chief reacted like I had just asked him if I could have sex with his daughter the last time I asked for an assistant, I can't promise Rootie it's getting better any time soon. Right now I'm just engineering and taking bids for this expansion. soon I'll be trying to train people and start it up, in addition to running my current job. I guess I'll just put me a cot in my office and hope Rootie will let me in the house for Sunday dinner."

"God Damn"

Knowing how good HR people are keeping your problems in confidence, I'm sure the Chief already knows about the conversation, which took place 15 minutes ago.

Bad case of the fuckits

We roll our product up on things called A-Frames. It is basicly a giant roll with it's own wheels. We have about 300 of these now, of which 75 should be condemned as unsafe. The journals are more weld thanoriginal steel. These 300 are of 9 different configurations, hving been bought a few at a time through the years. This makes it tough, because you have to hope that you can find one that will work on the piece of equipment you are trying to run.

So now, I'm in the midst of building a new $2.3 million expansion. There will be 5 new pieces of equipment that will wind on A-Frames. The bare minimum number I need is 90 to run everything 5 days a week. I was in a moth-balled plant last week with 420 identical A-Frames. I negotiated to buy 120 of them for $100 each (their value by the pound, as scrap iron, is about $65). I figure this allows for some product to be held for quality purposes, or maybe some A-Frames to be in the shop getting bearings replaced, etc. Anyway, it allows some breathing room without having to hunt for empty A-Frames.

The Chief changed the requisition to 70. I tried to explain that 90 was the minimum number, and offered to go through the calculations that brought me to that number.

"Oh I don't doubt you need 90. If you only have 70 you'll have to act like a manager and keep product flowing."

I can't wait to tell the owner that his $2.3 million expansion is idle for want of $5000 worth of scrap iron. I had budgeted $550 each for the 90, which was the cost of new ones. You'd think I would get an Attaboy for finding used ones at a good price.