Good morning Everybody!
It's a chilly 49 with 60% humidity under clear skies in southeast Baltimore. I was surprised to see the temperature in the house was still 69. I already switched from A/C to heat, but I don't think the heat came on yet. With the lows forecasted to be in the 40s and 50s all week I doubt that will last.
For the record, I keep my thermostat set at 68 for heat and 74 for A/C.
I finally got the rest of the water out of my pool. I did not have time to monitor the pump the entire time so I disconnected the hose, left the hose submerged and let the laws of nature take it's course. Now all I have to do is clean the pool and store it in my utility room in the basement.
I was really impressed with the versatile water pump I bought from Amazon, but I hope I only need to use it for the pool!
Amazon is opening a new Distribution center in Essex, MD, on my side of town! I have been invited to take a tour, meet the staff and they are going to pay for my time. It's scheduled for 11am this morning and is only supposed to take half an hour. In true Amazon form they are paying me for a full hour. I would have attended for free. It's better to find out how this center will operate before I go to pick up packages.
As many of you know I have been critical of companies for having too many part-time workers. Like always there is two sides of every coin. Not every company with a high ratio of part-time workers is taking advantage of people, but many are.
My wife is the GM of a 24 hour store. She recently heard one of her overnight employees has lost her apartment and is now homeless. This really upset my wife and she needed to talk about it. I asked her "did you ever find another shift leader for the overnight shift?". "No" she replied. I asked "why not". She told me; "nobody stepped up, they can't even show up on time, they call out, never answer their phones when I do have a call out and they won't complete their job duties". My reply; "why are you upset? It's not your store's responsibility to carry people, it's work, not welfare. The opportunity for a full-time position and a substantial raise was there for the now homeless girl to take. People have to accept personal responsibility for themselves".
Of the 12 over night positions at my wife's store, 2 of them are full-time positions, not a good ratio in my book. Of the 2 full-time over night positions, one is still vacant. That is on the other 11 part-timers, not the company.
I would be remis not to mention my wife's company has a shortage of managers. They don't require college degrees. They look at experience and work record as more important than degrees. There are opportunities for people willing to work hard. Even with the flat growth of the last few years the company has over 200 stores, all making profit and is opening more. Despite flat growth the profits have remained steady, it's a profit making machine! I wish would have know about this 30 years ago!
When my wife recruits, trains and promotes associates into management positions she gets a bonus. Almost a dozen of my wife's former assistant managers are now successful store managers and they all began as part-time. Her company is doing all it can to provide a path to prosperity.
"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink"
I still believe many companies/corporations exploit workers, I've witnessed it first hand, many times, over many years. On the other side of the coin; people have to take personal responsibility for themselves. They blame Washington, the deep state or some other excuse or explanation that makes them feel better. If you want more, go get it! Like Mike Tomlin said "No excuses, no explanations, just get it done!"
If you don't like what you are doing, do something else, but what ever you do, work hard at it!
Have a great day Everybody!
PS I'm still in favor of some kind of safety nets for those who are unable to take care of themselves or hit an obstacle in life.
Capitalism with a conscience.
God Bless you all!
