Hour by Hour Boards

We keep hour by hour boards on our production... I'm going to occupy myself tonight with keeping hour by hour stats on what I do while working Friday night/Saturday morning:

10:00 pm: Arrive at work one hour early...with minifridge and microwave to help make the office more comfortable. As I said when putting it into place in the corner, "My goals is to make everyone's life better while here."

10:30 pm: Read email, see that I have been invited to a meeting with labor relations first thing (my last thing) Monday morning. Go to "The Dave's" office, hang out with 2nd shift.

11:00 pm: Pop in a cd of tunes to keep me occupied tonight. I call this mix "It's 3am and everyone knows where you are." Includes Foreigner, REM, Clapton, Pink Floyd, Kid Rock, Heart, and Lenny Kravitz. I think it's good times - especially the Foreigner part.

11:04 pm: Walk into the door while leaving the office. Crumple my left hand into my stomach - fortunately my doughy physique shields myself from any major damage.

11:05 pm: Drive around, verify who is present and who is not.

11:10-11:45 pm: Make small talk with various people. Check to make sure the front office didn't flood. Raided the supply cabinet. Bad news is that it still smells like someone hurled in there and then closed the door. Good news is that it's been restocked with medium point pens. Grab some medium point pens and binder clips, check my office mail.

12:00 - 12:35 am: Reformat the weekend overtime posting list and print a copy for the other supervisors working this weekend. Create a cheat sheet of overtime posting codes...the codes for accessing the overtime sheets, not the codes for how to code the overtime. Chew a piece of pomegranite gum (which is good, but dissolves into goo after 10 minutes) and refill my diet coke.

12:35 - 1:00 am: Check facebook, clean up my overtime files and review some standard work documents.

1:15 am: Try to retrieve my desk nameplate from under my desk drawer, papercut my right wrist open. Recall cruel irony of having once said "I wish she'd papercut her wrists on her terrible poetry and quit effing everyone elses' boyfriends." (A few of you know which oh-so-emo , oh-so-tortured town bicycle I was referring to here...I guess Milwaukee really is where old whores go to retire.)

1:35 am: Decide to start blogging from work...

2:00 - 2:25 am: Decide to inventory rough stock. Notice an inside out, discarded rubber glove at the bottom of the steps. Stop and reflect on how nasty the handrails look, make mental note to clean them later. Make 3 complete laps around the shop, power-walking style.

2:30 am: Complete a safety score card and enjoy a packet of peanut M&Ms.

2:50 am - 3:40 am: Walk around the shop some more; attempt to get a cup of coffee but realize the vending machine is not working. Recall one of the operators telling me that particular coffee vending machine does not work. Walk 2 more laps around the shop and then return to my office. Pop in the Elizabethtown soundtrack. Write some goals for my quarterly review. Complete an online lesson about kanban. Notice I scratched up my left arm pretty good while digging for my nameplate earlier.

3:45 - 5:00 am: Complete more online learning courses. Print out inventory sheets. Gather safety observation cards

5:00 - 6:30 am: Climb up racks to check part numbers and quantities for rough stock inventory. Return to office and check upcoming work orders to see what can be shipped back to the rough yard areas. Type up an evening summary for shift hand off.

Now: Update this blog post. Drink another diet coke. Get ready to go home.