Make It Make Sense

If you've been following this blog for any length of time, you'll know that work out at the plant has been very slow this year.  We haven't worked a single Saturday so far.  I'd thought then that it was because of the economy, and that we just weren't getting any orders.  

Apparently not. 

Yep, they posted this morning, the plant is working Saturday.  Not me, because I have vacation already scheduled, but the rest of them are.  They gave us an entire week off, and now want us to work Saturdays -- for the rest of the year, from what I hear.  

Not only that, they've started making us all stay an hour over.  I was not happy about that.  I'd rather come in early than stay over, but that's not up to me.  And all of this after they'd spent several weeks sending the lines home at 9:00 and 10:00 in the morning.  

Make it make sense!  

What I heard is that the distribution center is empty, and the powers that be are starting to panic.  Now, for those of you who don't know, I work in a facility that manufactures evaporator coils for home air conditioners.  When we're done with an order, it's loaded on to a truck and shipped to the distribution center, which will send it on to the customer.  The DC is only about a mile up the road, so it's a short trip.  What I'm wondering is how in the world did no one notice that the stockpile was getting so low?  I mean, this kind of thing doesn't happen overnight.  Surely someone should have spoken up before now and said, "Hey, we need to put more coils into the distribution center!"  

By the way, I keep forgetting to mention that two supervisors have quit within the last month.  When your turnover rate among your shop floor employees is as high as ours is, you've got problems.  But when your turnover rate among supervisors and upper management is as high as ours is, you've really got problems. 

Think about this:  We've had five plant managers in the last seven years.  FIVE!  

First up, there was Butterball.  I call him that because he was short and pretty round.  He's the one that took our profit sharing bonus away because he didn't think we deserved it.  Someone in the meeting I was in asked, "Why don't we deserve it if we're meeting the criteria to get the bonus?" And butterball just snapped, "Because you don't!  You just don't!"  He was fired in early 2019.

Then came The Big Man Up Front.  He was fired for embezzlement in...I think it was late 2020 or early 2021.  Word is, all of that COVID relief the government was giving to companies for their employees was going straight into his pocket.  Someone who worked at another plant in the area was telling me her company gave them boxes full of groceries and lots of stuff like that.  We got a paper bag with two masks and a stick of gum.  

He was followed by Mob Boss.  He got that nickname because he always kept his dark hair slicked straight back, and to me, he looked like someone who belonged in the Mafia.  He's the one who told us we couldn't have anything to eat or drink on the shop floor but plain water -- even those who came in at 3:00 and 4:00 AM.  Lunch break is at 11:00.  That's a long time to ask people to go without food.  He got fired, but I don't really know why.  There aren't even any rumors about him.  Nobody missed him. 

Then came The Warden.  He resigned last year and went to another plant in the area. I thought he was going to be a good boss until that one day there was a big fight in the main breakroom at lunch.  Someone filmed it and posted the video to her Facebook.  I guess he got his behind embarrassed, because he went on an absolute tear after that.  That's how he got the nickname -- because he started treating the plant like a prison.  

Now we have Captain Cardboard.  I said I wasn't going to call him that, but it kind of stuck.  Truth is, the man hasn't shown enough personality for me to call him anything else.  He's been here almost a year, and...well, I'm not holding my breath that he stays too much longer.  I've already heard rumors that he's planning on resigning as soon as he's worked long enough to get his signing bonus.  Or some such. 

I don't know.  I guess we'll see...

On a brighter note, I've got spider lilies blooming!  

And finally, I had planned on taking the stuff up to the thrift shops this afternoon, but when they'd made us stay over, I changed my mind.  I'll take them tomorrow when I go to do my regular shopping.  Hopefully someone will take them. 

And just because...