Downtime Report

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Things have been a little quiet on the blogging front.

That's not to say I haven't been up to anything offline.  I've finished my Christmas shopping for instance!

Yes.  Yes, I apologise.  I'm using that awful 'C' word prior to December.  My most sincere apologies.

Simply put, I didn't want to be messing around with last minute shopping this year.  Last year I stuck to a budget and it worked out well.  This year, well, I had to cut that budget down a smidge.  What I also did was buy some gift bags and buy everyone some small, affordable bits and bobs instead of one big present.

That's all worked out well and I finished it all last Friday.  Now I don't have to worry about getting anything else!  I just have the cards to write out.

My Japanese lessons are going fairly well.  I repeated the first unit over which took some time but I think it was for the best - I wasn't 100% confident with everything and I wanted to go back over the kana (that's the written language in their characters, not our Latin letters).  I'm quite pleased with my progress so far!  I'm now onto learning home and family terminology ... proving to be both interesting and tongue-tying.

Work on the other hand ...

Getting busier as we nearer Christmas.  Adverts for the seasonal temps went up (rather discreetly I felt) and they'll be starting on the 26th, which is a good two weeks later than I did.  As of yesterday, I've been working there for a year.

Presumably we've had enough applicants since the sign went down last week.

We've had people leave over the past year, including some supervisors.  At some point over the past two weeks, most members of staff were asked if they interested in training up as assistant supervisors.   I was not one of them.  I was not happy to learn of this after the event.  I may have only been there a year but some of the people doing the training haven't been there much longer than I.

However, I felt a lot less disgruntled when I discovered that assistant supervisors, in spite of the extra responsibility, do NOT get any additional pay!   I was quite shocked at that!  It's extra hours, yes, but I'd have thought that the extra responsibility alone would entail a higher hourly rate.  But no, the company doesn't pay extra for the next step up their career ladder.   No wonder the majority of staff said no thank you!  Why do more work for the same money?  Especially when the hours are more unsociable?

So disappointment but also relief and disbelief at that discovery.   It's just as well I wasn't planning to stay with this company forever more!

I'm also on my first full weeks holiday in over a year.  I've needed a proper break from work so I could catch up on some things at home.  I spent the weekend with friends but the rest of week has consisted of present wrapping, cleaning, mending and a little clothes shopping to replace some of my threadbare wardrobe.

I'm also fighting off a cold.

Typical.  I'm sure I'm not the only person this happens to but I have a tendency to fall ill just as I take time off work.  No doubt I'll feel perfectly fine come Wednesday morning when I go back in.

Just typical!

Ah well, live goes on.  Hopefully I'll also be back to blogging properly before too long.  Feel a little more on top of things now, getting organised etc