AMAZED

I am truely amazed at the ability of some to stare reality in the face and totally disregard it. I say this after reading my brother's recent post (see link) "MEAN".
After twenty plus years of physical seperation, living at opposite ens of the continent, my brother and I end up here in Nevada (state of my birth) working in the same health care facility.
What are the odds of that? It started out as a dream job, great for a retirement kick back, give back type, no stress job. Well, that all changed when we started paying attention to the punch sheets included with our pay checks every payday. That is when I realized that I had the ability to stare reality straight in the face and totally disregard it. Bummer.

Now that the blinders are off, one has the obligation to start looking around his working environment, and paying attention to what is happening outside one's personal work area. I had to ask myself the question, "if this company is so blatantly screwing their employees, what about the residents that are under their care?". Well now, after some investigation, that opens up a whole other can of worms. I can't divulge the outrages I have uncovered at this time, but just take this one piece of advise. If you plan on putting a loved one in one of these facilities, please investigate as completely as you can before you do it. What goes on after the lights go out, is as important as what they are fed. What kind and how much medication is being administered? Who has access to their personal possessions,and records? And for the love of God, don't just assume.

Codynus

WORKING THRU YOUR LUNCH

Boy, it just doesn't get any better than this. Been working for this outfit for the past year, and because of something that was said a few months back, I started checking my punch sheets that we get with our paychecks. WOW! What an eye opener. Why hadn't I been doing this all along. It seems that, for one reason or another, most of the days that I worked through out the past year, I ended up not taking a half hour lunch. meaning, I worked straight through the day. Maybe taking a short smoke break or two, but no lunch. Lo and behold, this outfit didn't care, never said squat about it, but went ahead and deducted one half hour per day anyway. Now, I'm looking back thru all my time sheets and adding up these half hour deductions, and pretty soon, I'm up and over thirty hours that I've honestly worked, but haven't been paid for, because of these deductions. So, I'm thinking, windfall. Right! I then go to payroll, thinking there has been some computer glitch, and calmly broach the subject, by asking, "say, about these lunches I worked through and the time was deducted anyway. How do I go about getting paid for them. Its a lot of hours." Well, I was threatened with being wrote up, told I was getting a verbal, and then was handed the written company policy, which stated that the time clock automatically deducted the half hour if no out punch was detected at the five hour mark. WOW! I then went back over the time sheets, and checked the days that I did punch out for a lunch. Surprise surprise. The days that I did punch out for a lunch, but punched out after the five hour mark, you guessed it, still deducted that half hour. WOW! it just keeps getting better and better. Double bummer. No kiss, AND no Vaseline. What the hell. Something is WRONG with this picture. Besides that I'm in it. So, being the dog with a bone that I sometimes am, I check out the state and federal websites on the rules of engagement between employers and employees. It so happens, that its just not kosher, not to mention, illegal to do employees this way. Federally speaking, some heavy fines are involved with this type of "time adjustment" so to speak. Like X amount per in fraction. So, I started questioning my fellow employees, most of whom have worked there much longer than I, and it seems that this practice has been going on for YEARS. WOW! What do I do now? Blow the whistle and put maybe hundreds if not thousands out of work, because its a company with many facilities, and I'm sure it has to be a company wide practice, which means that with the potential fines and back pay involved, bankruptcy would not be out of the question. Or, keep my mouth shut, and take it like a man? Hm mm. What to do. Oh yeah, they do this funny little thing on overtime too. Something about when they start their work week and how your work wee seems always to fall between two of theirs, so what overtime? Your in two different weeks. How convienient. How illegal. Lets see...... Me x many others = a whole lot of wages not paid that should have been paid. Now, I wonder where that money is going. Who knows about it, and of course, how many different sets of books are kept to safeguard all this dinero? And most importantly, have they been practicing safe sex with us all? Now, just where did I put that whistle?

Codynus

PRE-AUTHORIZATION

Boy, did I ever learn a valuable lesson today. Never change credit card info online. Always do it over the phone via customer service. Otherwise you could be looking at some serious pre authorization holds on your card of choice. I ended up with four(4), for a total of $177.00 + change. And I still had to hunt a local establishment to pay cash in order to have uninterrupted service. Then it was phone call after phone call to try and get it straightened out. Finally after six unproductive conversations, the BEAST ripped off his gag and issued forth a tirade of short, but extremely sharp sentences, ending with something about the next call coming from our attorney. Well, that stopped the B.S. and run around. Miraculously, someone realized that, yes, I remember now, we can resolve this simply and immediately. Thank you for your patience, have a nice day. Yeah thanks. Easy for you to say. Now I have to get this BEAST back under wraps, so he doesn't screw up the rest of my day with his sharp little tongue. Nasty little fellow, gagged though he is most of the time. Time and place.
Anyway, that's pretty much the long and short of it. I could have lived with one pre authorization hold, but not four of them for the same thing. Tad overkill. I'll know better next time. Think I'll check into Pay-Pal, and let them handle the B.S.

Codynus

FILLING THE GAS TANK

A little hint for those out there who still have carburated vehicles. If you have a charcoal cannister under the hood as part of the evaporative emmissions control system, then please, when your topping off the tank, when the nozzle clicks the first time, QUIT PUMPING. The danger of pumping more gas after that first click-off, is that extra gas will probably find its way to that said charcoal canister and said charcoal wil probably end up in the float bowl of said carburator, and start reaking havoc with your idle and low speed circuits. Meaning, the jets are blocked by the charcoal particles from the cannister. YEAAA FOR FUEL INJECTION.

Codynus

BAD ALTERNATOR?.

SO YOU THINK THAT ALTERNATOR IS BAD.
Well, if you listen to so many back yard mechanics, and pull off that battery cable, then you , like them are suffering from oxygen depravation. You know, the sphynxter is too tight around the neck cutting off circulation to the brain.
Yeah, if your made of money and use it for toilet paper go ahead. Yeah, the engine will more than likely die, but not because the alternator is bad. Probably because you just spiked the system and fried most of you engines sensitive, low voltage sensors that feed info to the computer. And you still don,t know if the alternator is bad or good.
Years ago before the advent of computer controlled emmissions systems, and alternators, there were generators keeping the system charged and running. Pulling off the (+) positive cable to the battery was a viable test to see if the generator was working. The engine would indeed stay running if it were. Even prior to th mid eighties you could even test an alternator this way, but not after, say '86, when things started getting deep into the computer controlled crap. And after 1990, definetly don't do it. EVER.
All you need to test an alternator is a cheap test light or VOM. With the engine running clip the negative lead of the test light to the negative terminal, and stick the postive terminal with the test light and the light will light. Have someone turn on the headlights. If the test light dims and stays dim, the alternator is probably not putting out. If the light doesn't dim, but usually it will brighten a little, it's probably putting out. With a volt-ohm meter, neg lead to neg terminal, and pos lead to pos terminal. The voltage dial on DC 15volts, the reading should be 12 to 14+ volts. Turn on headlights. If voltage drops and stays below 12volts, then the alt is probably not putting out. If the voltage increases toover 12, then it probably is. If you end up having to ever replace the alternator, please have the battery checked also. Batterys hate AC voltage, and if the rectifier goes out of your alt, then guess what kind of voltage the battery is getting? And if you have a bad cell or two, the you'll work the new alt to death trying to keep it charged.
Oh yeah, starters hate bad batterys. Kills 'em almost as quick as over-cranking.

Codynus

RV LIVING "AN ADVENTURE IN LEARNING TO ADAPT"

As anyone who has lived full-time in an RV can tell you, it's a constant learning experience. You learn to be self-sufficient, where to find help, and you learn that sometimes there is just no help for it.
What do you do when you are in between paychecks and the money is short, and the space rent is due? Thats an easy one. Wal-Mart parking lot. Wal-Mart has always been RV friendly (thank you Wal-Mart for your hospitality). They also have a pretty fair RV section, and that plus the camping section, you can, with a little ingenuity decrease some expenses when in a monetary pinch. For instance, We used a "Mr Heater" this winter, and saved a ton on propane. I also bought an eight foot hose that has the right fittings on each end that I plumbed in-line of my on-board propane tank, that I can hook a five or ten gallon tank to so I don't have to move the RV when I need propane. The system will also allow a one gallon bottle to be hooked up, which really comes in handy when the money is short and the propane runs out at the same time. Always nice to be able to take a shower even if your broke. Our next improvement will be an on-demand hot water system. A real money saver. I love living in an RV. If you get tired of the neighborhood, unplug and move.

Codynus

WORK FROM HOME

There are more websites out there offering every kind of work from home, own your own web business, make millions on the internet, etc,etc, etc, than I care to try and count. If you are in the market for something of this sort, then you are in luck, because there are plenty to choose from all over the internet. I get hundreds of e-mails a month on the subject, and it just boggles the mind at the vast number of supposed opportunities. My only advise is to move slow, and of course, as always, buyer beware. Everything hinges on one important fact. Traffic. Without traffic to your site, your dead in the water. No if, ands, or buts about it. No traffic, no money. Its that simple. So, if you don't have a plan to gain visitors to your business site, don't start. Think long and think hard, and then go for it. Jump in with both feet, and do whatever it takes to make it work for you. Try new and innovative stuff. Thats what makes the world go round. everybody is looking for something new to look at, to buy, or to just talk about.

Try this link for some avenues i've investigated.
http://codynuslinks.codynus.com-a.googlepages.com/codynuslinks

Good luck,

Codynus