I'd say "Go for it, Big Player!" but I'm not that sort of pushy guy.

Of course, the blonde in question never did contact me today. Fair enough....

I have a bigger fish to fry now. I uh... may have lost my job today.

I have one person quitting tomorrow, 2 warehouse people quit last week, and I'm picking up the slack. Management only claims that everything "has to be done now," which is basically all lies and everyone is sick of the constant pressure and demands.

So... I'm getting hounded for 4 straight days over this large order. I have to pull over 200 cases, count all the products in the boxes, document all the products, create reams of paper work (mostly by hand, thanks to working in an industry stuck in 1895).

I keep saying "I don't know how long all of this will take; it's a LOT of work" and "May I please have help?" Of course, everyone is working on stuff that needs to be done "right now" that will never get done.

All I get in response is "I need this done today" and "why is it taking so long?" Of course, coming off the crazy **** show that was last week and I'm getting a bit irritated. I left early for something important yesterday and I really did feel better after talking to a friend about it.

Until today. "I need this done now. It needs to be done today..."

Never mind that the management has no idea how long this should take, nor do they have any clue what this task entails, even on a basic level. Suffice to say, it just got on my nerves. I let that irritation show on my face and I hear "what's wrong?"

Did I forget to mention that a coworker gave a 1 day notice that he's quitting and no one knows how to do his job? I had to get a bit of training on that too. I sat in that for about 1 hour and started getting back to my order.

I didn't like scream at the boss, and I did start out calmly.

The other two and I have asked over and over to please stop with this constant high-pressure tactics. It doesn't help us at all and just muddies the water. I'm doing the work of 3 people, and started listing it all out.... my voice probably rose a little bit, but I wasn't like screaming, just feeling very irritated.

"Go home."

(there is an obvious snap-back about how this task won't get done today but I bit my tongue)

I’ve never been a music fan. My cousins are music fans. I’m not. I like the sound of silence so I can concentrate on making internet posts

In grocery work . Your supposed to just say someone else was supposed to do it. There are lots of jobs where there are too many things for the people there. Just say you had stuff that had to get done right now, say someone else didn’t do it, and then explain how you could’ve fixed it had you been assigned that task.

You only live once do NOT do other people’s job. Especially if your job is physical in nature. You can only work so hard. I’ve literally seen people work to death out of honor.

Dave,

Quite frankly, she is quite interested in me. I have no idea why since I'm nearly 15 years older than she. But she's smart, cute, and nice. I talked to a friend who said I can certainly date much younger women, but it would have to be someone like her with children about to go to or in college. Certainly not someone with younger kids.

But, to tell the truth, after being in a couple relationships spread out over the past thirty years, it scares me to think of starting again with someone new.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

you have reservations about everything with women but a room reservation.

dave,, bryce is giving you some really good advice there.

I have a house reservation with one now. More to come.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

The situation is a little more complicated than that. I was the only able-bodied person who could do the work.

This particular boss was never like this with me before. She knows darn well I'm the most thorough and correct worker she has (and I'm fast).

She did say a lot of very important business things to me. She was gunning to get rid of a lot of people. The two coworkers who quit in the past week were both under the gun, two other coworkers are still under the gun, and it only stood to reason that I, being the highest paid person they have, was under the gun as well.

Everyone got stuck in that mess, either by getting paid very late, not getting paid at all, getting paid 1/2 "by accident," getting their hours cut, and so on.

There are company-wide changes in both product and processes. Change is always difficult for any company. It's very difficult to explain this, but it's like if you decided to up and get gender reassignment surgery tomorrow with no notice to anyone. Try bringing in your future wife as justification to everyone who is asking about your justification.

There are consultants who specialize in company restructuring / improvement, and from what I've been led to understand, it gets into tears, fist-fights, full-on company sabotage, and many very difficult decisions. I've personally witnessed this process 3 different times and it was never ever pretty.

I'm hinting at things here, and you may be able to connect the dots and dig up the bowling ball amid the dots. You may be good at cloak-and-dagger politics, but you should have no illusions that you can sidestep the consequences of it or fall victim to it, especially when said bowling ball is involved.

There is one way to not fall victim to cloak-and-dagger, but I never had that ace at this company, so I was always in danger.

That makes it hard for me. If you are the highest paid person there and your the go to guy then basically there isn’t a problem. You signed up to be the company man and are now working for the company. Are you on salary or hourly? If they actually respect you you’ll be making a good living. My dads company has hundreds of employees. So you need to ask yourself are you making more money because you are respected and working 10 hours a day or is it because you are someone in lower level managements lapdog? If you are respected and making good pay then it’s on you. If not the more assertive people especially in situations of disrespect get the cheese in the end. If you’re actually adding value to the company you can always talk to the owner/ management.

Like at my job if I told my boss to go **** himself and get on all fours, I promise you I would not be fired.

You totally missed the bowling ball.

Unfortunately, this particular industry has a very low upper bound in pay, so no, definitely don't make a good living. They couldn't match what I used to be paid, and honestly, that number is virtually unheard of in this industry. Everyone either lives with mom or takes the bus. I was the rare few who didn't have a college degree. :/

Why?

Why don't I have a college degree? That's a looonnnnggggg story.

Why is the pay so low? I won't discuss the numbers of any particular company, but I'll tell you a little about my own experiences selling online.

Suppose you are selling shoes. Sounds like a good deal because the average sale price is about $40. I was selling as a distributor and earning 40% base, which is $16.

Sounds awesome until you add in shipping ($7), PayPal (3% or $1.20), and eBay fees (9% or $3.60). That leaves you with $4.20 net profit... until something bad happens, like a return, busted product, or something else. A return label is $7, a busted product means sending out a replacement, a product lost in the mail is a full refund (which is still the 3% loss to PayPal). Maybe a return never gets back to you, so you are out a full $40.

Now, you can still earn money if you squint at the math, but my numbers aren't exactly atypical for the average manufacturer / seller. I'm very analytical; I can use databases; I'm a stickler for keeping my books very clean and proper. I'm not afraid to use a computer to get things done, and I'm not afraid of doing math. Most people in the industry are the polar opposite of me.

Now pay employees, lights, warehousing, dealing with shrinkage, taking losses on stale inventory, etc, and you see how quickly money goes up in vapor.

To give you a sense of how bad it is, Amazon shamelessly takes full advantage of these companies by charging up to 17% to sell on their marketplace on top of a $40 / month fee. Overstock is so absurd with their fees that it's no-joking impossible to earn money on their platform, yet they aren't lacking in inventory. Amazon FBA is a full-on scam, yet they aren't lacking any 3PL inventory.

In short, the money that's earned is quickly approaches zero, which means the money left over to pay people also approaches zero. Even under my arrangement, I would have to be selling 20 shoes a day to take on a single employee, and that's only if that employee is super efficient.

John,

Take the blonde on a pleasant walk; you are in a great place to do that. Have a coffee after, and dazzle her with your bubbling wit and rosy life outlook and flashes of brilliance on art and culture. And your face will not crack if you occasionally smile or lightly laugh. Life is an adventure. Live it that way.

Let her have her way with you, John Cole. Give it the old college try! Here's a Barry Manilow song I heard the other day that might be applicable. I believe it was used in the late 70s Goldie Hawn Chevy Chase film Foul Play.

For Lastcard; in reference to a post above about found cigs in the street -





Beat those!!!

Good work, Zeno.

was gone for awhile and everything turned brown. fires are burning and the air is rated unhealthy in montana.

last night a bear got into one of my best plum trees and had a feast and broke a pile of branches. and left me a pile in return.

I do have a bear license if you want to get some payback.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

he is fat and sassy now and down the river probably in someone elses orchard.
the fires and hot dry forest brought him in early.

Ya, likely the case. You have griz by you, you must right?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

yea grizzlies around but few as i am along the river corridor and they dont come that far down too often. they are around my essex cabin all the time as it adjoins glacier park.
they dont bother me and i dont go near them.

Staying away from grizzlies sounds like a good life strategy.

Of course, I stay away from stray frogs because nature is scary.