Writer's block...

...it sucks.

I have stories to tell, but everything I write looks long-winded and uninteresting. Been trying for a few days now. I think I need to get away from things related to keyboards for a while so today I'm gonna garden a little, clean my kitchen a lot (call Ripley!), and work on crewel-work piece I bought to use as practice for an embroidery workshop I'm taking next weekend.

Oh, by the way. That employee I was talking about? Miss No-show? Tuesday she pulled the same "I'll be in an hour late" crap again. She said she had a quiz to take. That left me wondering whether she'd scheduled work time right over her classes. And then she showed up half an hour after she said she would. Wednesday she emailed me asking if she worked that day--she had made her own schedule, mind you--and when I told her yes she did (due in 20 minutes, actually), she asked to be taken off the schedule for Wednesdays. I did one better and took her off the schedule permanently. She'd signed up for 20 hours a week, and so far in two weeks she worked 2 and half, 2 and three-quarters, tops.

She went from "scatterbrain" to "sneak" in my book when I got a look at her online time card and saw she was padding her hours. The half hour to 45 minutes she was here the first day she submitted as two hours. I guess she thought I'd already left the building and wouldn't know when she'd quit for the day. The second day she worked she claimed 2 1/2 hours even though she was only there for two of them. Luckily as supervisor I have the ability to go in and adjust her time card before it gets submitted, and that's exactly what I did.

You know, dealing with this person may be what has me not wanting to write at the moment. I've been preoccupied with how to handle with her, and with trying to figure out how to make her see what I want from her. It hit me when I looked at that time card: it wasn't a communication problem. She was testing me to see how much she could get away with. I'd been a little scattered and nervous at the interview (she was my first one), and I guess she thought I was distracted and inattentive. An easy mark. *Buzz* Wrong!

Thursday I interviewed and hired someone who is also a student but in all other respects is the polar opposite of this girl I just fired. When we were talking about schedules, she told me about a vacation to England she'll be taking in a few weeks, and wanted to know if that would be a problem. Nope. As long as she's not texting me from the airport prior to boarding to tell me she won't be here for 2 weeks, I have no problems. Also, the other place she works has a different schedule over the summer, and it hasn't been posted yet. I told her to consider her other job the primary job. We'll rearrange her hours with me once the schedule at the other place is set. And yes, I talked to her supervisor before hiring her. Got a glowing recommendation. Yay for learning from one's mistakes!

So it looks like I did have something to write about after all. Next post should be something very unrelated to work, I promise.