Inadequate help

[steev]

So "Tattooine" showed up on time, paid attention to instructions, did good work, and wants to continue (she volunteered the opinion that the guy who'd walked off was "a little bitch"); she being a little butch, I think we're going to get along fine.

The cable thing got taken care of, the modem return is simpler than I'd been led to believe, and the old company is even going to refund un-earned payment.

I must admit that feeling this optimistic makes me a tad nervous.

[steev]

She worked yesterday; called in feeling puny today; may work tomorrow; even if she only works 2-3 days/week, I'll be so much better off than I've been of late; she's much more easily trainable and she called in sick, instead of just not showing; so much easier than I've become used to.

I think my blood-pressure is falling, from prolly historic highs.

I expect her on Monday, if only to collect her last week's pay; if she shows and works Monday-thru-Thursday, as expected, it will be so good.

[steev]

Haven't seen nor heard from her this week; called her Monday, but no response. WTF! I am really planning how to get out of this business; I hope to sell it, but I will bail, if it comes to that, stopping my ad and letting my clients fade by normal attrition; I don't want to just walk away; some of my clients have been with me >35 years; taking care of their yards is what I do. It's a relationship. Granted, I have a farm to keep me more than busy, but I hate to just walk away; that's just not right.

[steev]

Got a call from Tattooine this evening; she says she was just too worn out by her other jobs: I pointed out that "too worn out to give me a call until the end of the time I'd expected her" was bullshit; just rude, that; I pointed out that I still owe her pay; she says she'll be here Monday thru Friday next week; do I believe that?; she'd like to know whether any of her friends can fill in; that would be a "no"; I can't run a business at people's homes, never knowing who, or whether anyone, will show up; I have to be able to reliably schedule work, as well as special jobs (where the fast money is).

If she shows on Monday (no irrational optimism, here), we'll talk; I think she has no idea of the opportunity she's fluffing; it's a damned sight more money than she has on the horizon the way she's going.

She may think it's too restricted, too tied-down, but she has no idea why a UC-trained bench-chemist would bail to be a landscaper/gardener: freedom, it's all about the freedom and avoiding the risk of job-related cancer; you show you're reliable, and the clients trust that the work will get done, even if though not on a totally rigid schedule.

We'll reach an understanding, or not, but I'm too old to start being buggered/fucked around; I was done with that forty years ago, when I prioritized my freedom as being more important than more money and perks (at the risk of cancer); a week after I'm dead, I won't smell any sweeter than if I'd worked my whole life for an international corporation, but I'll have had a better life and rest easier, IMHO.

[steev]

So she showed today; did good work; we discussed the potential for her to eventually buy the business and what that would do for her income; she'd bleached her hair and dyed it vermilion; I think she's as dumb as I was at her age, though no less intelligent. Are we having fun, yet? I'm optimistic; fun happens.

I think my beard is nearly long enough to braid reasonably; have I mentioned that I don't take social norms very seriously? I mean, really, it's my face and I stand behind it, literally.

[steev]

She showed today and looks to show tomorrow; it hasn't been better than this for a long time. Now I just have to train her away from OCD to "get the job done and move on"; it's sort of "don't worry about those little weeds: get the yard-high ones; don't worry about the backyard weeds before dealing with the ones by the front door"; there is a learning curve to prioritizing what one should do; it's not instinctive; she shows promise.

It's kind of "if we don't let that die, the account will die"; triage is the thing, until we catch up.

[blueadzuki]

Jun 12, 2017 22:54:59 GMT -5 steev said:

I think my beard is nearly long enough to braid reasonably; have I mentioned that I don't take social norms very seriously? I mean, really, it's my face and I stand behind it, literally.

If you need any "pony beads" for that, let me know, I have been culling them out of the mixes I buy for a while now (they are the standard sides for trade bead type cord necklaces.). Assuming you are OK with glass (as opposed to the commoner plastic)

Or you could do like that hunter on the Alaska cryptid show and stick a bear claw in there.

[steev]

I could root out the trade-bead roach-clips I have left from my youthful flea-marketage; come to think of it, they'd just clip on; sweet! I think I've got enough for a matched set that, when I turn my head suddenly, would be like castanets; "You did what?!" Brrrap!

Why would I stick a bear-claw in my beard, instead of my pie-hole?

So Tattooine has worked three days running and expects to come Thurs and Fri; this is good; she says her friends are all envious of this job; I would say that all my clients, so far, are fine with her; this is looking good.

My sweetheart has been having a dog's luck getting a gardener for her home in Walnut Creek; I'm starting to think I can pitch Tattooine to her (it's just a bi-weekly Saturday job, not something I can fit into my schedule; too much travel-time weekdays and I'm to the farm weekends).

[prairiegardens]

Glad to hear your help problems may finally be resolved! Sometimes perseverance pays off.

[steev]

Really, you think such things get finally resolved? I've been blind-sided too many times to think that when things look good, it's not going to get worse; I believe in cycles, not trajectories; I expect to be swimming upstream; bucking ignorance, thoughtlessness, and entropy until I sink, faintly cursing, under the waves of chaos.

Unless I'm put in charge, of course, in which case, things will be different, you betcha! We will achieve "escape-velocity" from the "human condition".

So you see that I'm not such a pessimist, but that I realize that I know that the eyes of so many must be opened to my potential; I'll not seize power, only accept it if it's offered on a silver platter, or melamine, cardboard, whatever.

[steev]

So she didn't show Thurs or Fri; it was looking good, but now I'm a day behind on the maintenance, not to mention odd jobs; here comes the end of the month, when one would like to not look like shit, given that it's time for the bills to go out.

I think it's time we have the "it's better for me not to have a helper, than to have one I can't count on to show up" talk.

I don't know how profitable or fun her night job is, but I can't deal with their free-form scheduling fucking up my business; I'll dismiss her and watch my business dry up before I'll put up with that shit.

I didn't bail on being a high-paid (with great perks) bench-chemist to be at the scheduling-mercy of a trendy pizza-lounge in techy San Francisco; fuck 'em; I've no stake in that.

[richardw]

Did she let ya know she wasnt turning up Thurs or Fri, seems the younger ones today dont even have the decency to at least ring in and say so.

[prairiegardens]

It's not just the young ones, after noting on FB that he was out of phone time so couldn't answer phone calls, the recommended 39 year old handyman ignored messages for a day then told me he would be here yesterday. He called me 45 minutes after he was supposed to be there to tell me he was running late, then when he finally did turn up it was with his 6 year old twin boys. No explanation. So at least half the time he was parenting rather than working, but still expected to be paid top wages, and expected to be back today. Not.

[richardw]

Thats pretty bad isnt it

[steev]

It was easier when I had more than one helper, since if one was late/didn't show, we'd have left to go work: tough luck for laggards.