Big stress at work. I was one of a very few that knew that we are going to have major route changes and loss of overtime next year. That was a huge weight but we had a meeting on Friday and now everyone knows what's what for next year. As a group they took the news much better than I thought they would. Some of those with the least seniority will be having their hours cut 25%. To keep their hours from being cut even further the senior drivers will be losing some of the overtime that they are used to and count on. I will be loosing my route but I will be keeping my hours. I'll find out next month just exactly what I'll be driving next year. I've worked with most of "my kids" for the last five years so as thankful as I am that I'll keep my paycheck, I'm very sad to be starting over with a new group.
I spent most of the week with a new driver, something I usually enjoy. We don't usually train at this time of year and for some reason it just wore me out everyday. The driver did fine so I don't know why it wore me down.
We took the training bus to the Fun Fair at one of the schools and had a huge turn out. I expected to sit around reading but we were busy the entire time. For many of the kids and their parents this was their first time seeing the bus and we got very favorable feedback. Definitely a bright spot in the week!
Everyone has been posting pictures of their spring flowers while I've continued to watch the snow melt. This was taken yesterday. We finally have more grass than snow but there is more than enough of the white mess left.
Yesterday was warm and sunny so I started on some garden clean-up on the beds that are snow free and John started shoveling off the shade bed in front. He found my wood poppy sending up new shoots under all that snow! He really had to work hard as most of it was ice.
The crocuses started coming up through the snow and started blooming a couple of days after the snow was off of them. I still have one patch that hasn't started blooming yet so I'll get to enjoy flowers longer.
I looks like a normal week coming up so maybe I can drag myself out of this funk I've been in.
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Sorry about the blues...I fear a lot of folks are in the same boat. So many big changes in every life it seems, nothing we did to cause it. Nothing we can do to change it. Hang in there....your flowers are gorgeous btw
ReplyDeleteWow, a lot going on at work. I hope things will go smoothly. I know it's hard to be happy, or even relieved, when others got worse news. Cutbacks have been commonplace for 3 or so years, but many people just didn't notice.
ReplyDeleteI hope things will be smooth for you, and I hope that darn snow melts!
I'd say with all that you have on your plate you are entitled to the blues every now and then, hopefully the sun will shine a little more now and make us all feel better. You are lucky to have blooms on your flowers, all I have are stems. I do have birdies all over so that helps a little. That safety bus is very cool. I wish we had something like that around here. It's good to have you back, I love hearing from other bus drivers!
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
ThreeCollie - Thanks for stopping by to cheer me up! You guys have it much worse than I do. I'm glad you're not throwing in the towel like so many are. We have very few farms left here and only one dairy that I can think of. I don't have many crocuses but they do cheer me up.
ReplyDeletePam - At least we'll all still have good jobs. Believe me, we've noticed here, businesses have been closing or moving out of state for the last several years. The woman I was training had just lost her job. Rain this morning melted more of the snow and the snow we got this afternoon didn't stick so I hope to be able to go out and play between runs tomorrow.
Heather - Thanks! The birds are all coming back and I see a good variety from my "office" window. The training bus is very cool and I wish we had more opportunity to use it. It was built by a group of bus drivers from several districts. You'd think there'd be a whole lot of bus drivers blogging but I only know of a handful.
Sorry you are dealing with the "blues" - seems to be an issue this time of year. Glad you still have a job - that was addressed at our training meeting this morning as well. You have a specific "training bus"? Can you share more? That sounds awesome.
ReplyDeleteGlad your snow is melting - ours is gone but it's grey and cold here...we are supposed to get rain here later today.