June 2007

We had a pretty good time at the Braves game tonight. They were playing the Nationals and overall is was a pretty boring game, at least during the first few innings. One thing I noticed is that attendance is way down over the last time I was at a game a couple of years ago. We were supposed to go have Mexican before the game but my boss decided that we didn’t have enough time so he brought pizza and snacks to one of my stores and we hung out in the back and ate until it was time to go. Don’t get me wrong, I like pizza but this was the third night in a row. I’m done with Pizza for a few days.

The three district managers all rode together and a couple of store manager rode with us. I guess we are all the old folks that like to get sleep and show up for work on time, so we left my boss and the other younger guys there at the top of the 8th. The score was 4-1 Braves when we left. I haven’t checked to see what the final score was but it turned out to be a pretty good game after all.

It was Bat night, so I brought home an Andruw Jones bat for Pete. She loves it. What was really funny is that they check you for weapons and shit right at the gate, you go in 20 feet and they hand you baseball bats. What the fuck is up with that? I told the other districts that we would use them to beat the shit out of the homeless guy that was asking for money when we left. They just got this shocked look when I said it. Had to be there I suppose…

I should have been up 45 minutes ago. That’s one of the reasons I get up so early. It gives me a bit of cushion should I need to sleep in a bit. I tossed and turned and had a pretty hard time sleeping last night. I suppose I shouldn’t have had that darned nap yesterday afternoon.

I never have understood how people can regularly show up late for work. As a manager I generally cured that of 99% of my employees. The ones that can’t get to work on time just didn’t get the good hours and I eventually replace them. When people know upfront what you expect and you send them home once or twice for being late, either they find another job or show up on time.

It’s a bit more difficult since these folks have a set of managers between myself and them. I have sent several home already but it hasn’t fixed the problem so far, although a couple of them seem to have gotten the message. I will just keep on harping on them until they get it right. Being late is just one of those things that irritate the hell out of me. I’ve already had a couple of the folks that are consistently late come to me asking for raises and they were genuinely offended when I told them that I wouldn’t even consider going to bat for them when they can’t get to work on time. There are other issues involved as well, such as being lazy as hell, but showing up when they are supposed to is a bit part of it.