Finished

I finished 2 of my clocks. I only have 8 left and have decided to finish and sell them. One of these clocks was made to look like a Halloween Decoration and the other is just something else altogether, but they are very nice and are going up for sale on several web sites. Ebay, etsy.com and itallstartedwitharock.9f.com and here on my blog.



If interested let me know or if you know someone who is.

A new beginning!

Tomorrow I'm starting a new job and training. I start work at Deseret Industries while I'm trying to get into school. They have a program that allows you to work while train for a new career and the career I've chosen is Radiology Tech. I am excited to start this chapter in mine and Amy's life. I know that this will be a long hard road, but the payoff will be worth it. I will always miss Granite work and you never know if I will get the chance to do that again, I hope so, but not for the company that I've been working for ever again, that chapter of my life is over! Wish me luck!

The last day!

I quit my job today. I figured that it really wouldn't hurt us much since I'm not getting paid anyway! But I called my boss and left him a message telling him that I was going to quit and turn him in for not paying me. I received a call about 5 minutes later and he had found a few hundred to pay me. I took it, but I quit in the process of picking up a check. I feel like a weight has lifted off my shoulders and I was quite happy tonight and I really don't have any worries. I will certainly miss granite for a while, but new and exciting things are in mine and Amy's future. First thing is to get into some sort of college course and I may have found an answer to that through LDS Employment and there is training available through Deseret Industries. I'm going to go for some kind of Medical. I liked Radiology Tech and they have one for a CNA, so really any of what they offer will help. I'll find out Monday.

Spare time.

I've had a lot of spare time lately. Work has all but stopped and finding a job hasn't been any better. Applying online is just a hassle, either your bombarded by emails for school or ads! But not just any school, the one's that will cost you not only an arm and a leg, but maybe your whole life and anything else you might own. I guess if you want to get in and out of school in a year or less then this would be an option, but I've been told to go to a school that is accredited and I am currently preparing for the test to get into the MLATC which is in Orem by UVU.

So while I haven't been as busy with work, I've been trying to keep myself busy. I've sold just about everything I've had in storage on ebay and I listed a few of my tables just to see what would happen. Nothing happened, yet, but they did what was intended for the moment and that was for people to see them. About 50 people have looked and that is all I was looking for.

I dug out my clocks that I made several years ago and decided to finish and sell what I have left, but first I needed to test it and so I finished one. It's orange and black and looks like it belongs to Halloween, so I bought some stickers and used them for the numbers and if you read my wife's blog: auntieamyandcounting.blogspot.com you can see that Nya my neice was very helpful in helping me finish the look of this clock. And then you can read about next injury from the same night as well. Amy and I took it with us yesterday when we went to visit my Aunt Roberta and she put it in her booth at the Holy Cow in Pleasant Grove. So I hope it sells and these are the pictures of it.

The backside.

Headaches!

I suffer from headaches, Migraines to be exact and this last week has been a showcase of different headaches. The stress level for Amy and I has been overwhelming to say the least, but we've managed to keep faith that all would be well. Yesterday, we both met our breaking point and both of us kind of had a bad day!! We didn't fight or anything, but we were definitely not in a good mood! But that changed last night when we both thought all was lost!!

Trent (my brother), came over last night and was helping me get signed up on a new web site to look for new jobs. Basically jobs for civilians on Government installations, like Hill Air Force Base or The Tooele Army Depot. So far I've found a few with great pay and I plan on going for it, but last night he kept telling me to just turn in my boss, just be heartless and do it! For me this is a really hard thing to do! I always turn the other cheek and I'm very patient, but I was at an end of my patience, but I had an overwhelming feeling to call my boss and give him just one more chance and if it didn't get me the results I wanted, to turn it over to the Labor Commission. First thing I did though was to go over to the shop and see what was happening. Much to my surprise, nothing had happened in the way of having a job gone and installed by Tuesday. It was still there! I figured that they just didn't have the same kind of speed that I have or it was just a pain to Fab., which is what it looked like to me. So I called and was told that he had collected a check that day, but it was after the bank closed. He asked if I could wait until morning and if I could help them install the job. If you pay me first, then I'll help you. He agreed and this morning, we got paid nearly $2,000 and we're up too date!!

The moral of this lesson for me is, always follow the spirits guidence. No matter how bad someone else has treated you and how angry they make you, always follow what that still small voice says! The Lord did not let us down and even in the midst of feeling all was lost, something happened that changed that. I know that we're not out of the woods yet, but we don't know what's around the next corner and we'll continue to fight our way through these tough times.

Today is a better day, my body is a little more rested and calm, but I have a Migraine the size of Mt. Everest!!!!!


Thanks George for all your help and I'll consider and keep that knowledge for the next time that this happens, except I won't wait 2 months next time, I'll walk every 2 weeks if I don't get a check on time!

I went to work today,

I went in at about 8:30 this morning and waited and waited and waited. Finally at 10:00, someone showed up and at 10:15 my boss showed up and I said that I was leaving and I would come back but only after I received my pay in full. His only response was that he understood and he is working on getting all of it together.





Then I left!!

Why do we work?

Work, it's an easy enough word and easy to understand. Why do we work and have jobs? That is easy enough as well. To earn money is usually the first thing that applies to this basic word. Work used to be this and more for me: A sense of accomplishment, a job well done, pride in my work, the best fabricator on the planet, creativity and something to do. Many of you know that work for me this year has been a little slow. This year has been hard to say the least with little or nothing to do at all, until now! Work is booming and we're booked for several weeks.

For about 6 weeks though, Amy was in and out of the Hospital and during those weeks and for those days I spent my time with her giving her my total devotion and support to her to help her get better. Luckily, before all this happened, I had been paid after waiting for 3 months to get it. 3 months is a long time to wait for a paycheck and the stress that goes with that is not fun either! During all this free time I had, I was applying for jobs and going to interviews. And still nothing has happened in improving our circumstances! Recently I was turned down again and I didn't get the job, but now it doesn't seem as if I need a new job since mine is busy again.

But,
I feel dead at work! I no longer have a desire to do the work, at least not there! The "not" in "getting paid" has given me a desire to just not bother! I have now been waiting another 2 months for a check. For what little they owe me, you'd think that they could pay me! I have just about sold everything that is not tied down on ebay. I only have 1 box of personal items in our tiny storage closet and I may break that down even more to earn what little amount of money you can make on ebay!

I have been working hard and fast everyday for a two weeks now. The amount of work that I'm doing each day is enough for a small crew, but somehow I manage to produce about 2 slabs of granite a day, which is fast for 1 person. Sink cut outs take a toll on your back and take at least 2 hours of time. More than 1 in a day is hard enough and one day this last week I did 4 sinks plus the job in about 9 hours time. That is a super fast time! The more I do the more they expect and the more I won't be paid for! This is super frustrating!!

Finally, yesterday I was told that they would have to try to get me paid fast sometime soon! Soon should mean "NOW" and "NOW" should not wait! My desire to work has lost it's taste and everything that is said to me makes it even more tasteless!

I work well with praise as well as pay. Being positive and praising one's work, works great! But the one's who are doing your bidding, your work and paying your bills, seem to be forgotten more often than not. I would like a raise or a bonus, a job well done, but it seems that all I'm getting right now is, "you complain too much, are you sure you can get this done today?" and if there's a mistake, it's my fault automatically. Maybe if the schedule wasn't overbooked and on such a jammed up time line, that there would be time to breathe and think about what is being said! There seems to be no praise anymore, which makes bad situations worse! Depending on what is said to me next week, I may just walk out the door!

So, why do we work?
Well, I work for my boss's sake!!