made it 25 years!

April 1 came and went. I made it through that milestone. :) Due to other issues, it was a very quiet and subdued day at the office.

After work, some friends joined me for dinner to celebrate it.

Obviously, we should have taken the pics inside ... since the wind was gusting about 25-30 mph! So much for the hair. All Kansans understand!!

25 years ago today ....

Twenty-five years ago tonight I had been into Boeing, had my picture made for my badge, shown my birth certificate to prove who I was and that I was an American citizen, been fingerprinted for a security clearance (due to military work back then), and was getting myself ready for the first day on my new career - which began April 1, 1985.

So ...

Tomorrow (Thursday) is my 25th anniversary of working for Boeing and Spirit combined.

I guess the biggest thing to celebrate, particulary tomorrow, is the fact that I am still employed there.

Sadly, tomorrow is also the last day of working with a number of my long-time colleagues and (in many cases) friends. Many of our IT jobs have been outsourced. The transiton of those responsibilities is this Friday, making tomorrow the last day that quite a number of people will be working for Spirit. Some were fortunate and secured positions with the outsourcing suppliers or a different position in Spirit. Others did not.

Now you understand why I say that do "celebrate, particularly tomorrow, ... the fact that I am still employed there."

It is becoming a rare experience for someone to be with a company 25+ years - unless they own it. Just think of how many mornings I have driven to the same (well, roughly the same!) location. [For non-Wichitans, the original Boeing site, which now is comprised of Spirit and what is left of Boeing-Wichita, spans what would be several city blocks - roughly 1 mile by 2 miles.]

So, I do celebrate this personal milestone.

However, my celebration will be away from the office, not at it, due to the very unfortunate circumstances of the day at the office tomorrow.

some good news today ...

We are going to be able to return to work fulltime starting after the two-week shutdown for the holidays!

The shutdown is December 22 through January 2. We can return to work fulltime as early as Monday, January 5, and no later than the following Monday, January 12.

Hallelujah!

house not sold & still working 3-day weeks

Sale of House:

As most of you are already aware, the sale of the house did not go through. The buyer was never able to secure her loan. It is now back on the market - after sitting inactive with "Contract Pending" for several weeks. At this point, I am asking God for a miracle.


3-Day Work Weeks:

The good news: IAM and Boeing seem to have come to terms. There is to be a vote this weekend to see if the members agree and are ready to accept the contract and return to work.
The not so good news: We were notified today that we can expect the work slowdown at Spirit to last 90 days past the strike at Boeing, if it ends now. The expection was that most of us would remain on 3-day work weeks until "likely the end of January."
The "could be" good news: We were also told today to expect a full week of shutdown at Thanksgiving and a full two weeks at Christmas.
The reason it's not good news: Of course, the company is only paying for our usual two days at Thanksgiving and seven days from Christmas Eve through New Year's Day. The other six days (Monday thru Wednesday of the week of Thanksgiving, Dec 22 & 23, and Jan 2) are "on us."

As you know from my previous blog on this, I have been able to charge my additional 16 hours each week to a "Reserved Sick Leave Fund" that we brought over from Boeing, but could not really use. I will exhaust what I had accumulated in that fund the week before Thanksgiving. From that point on, I will be either using my "Earned Time Off" (the term used for companies that no longer separate vacation and sick leave time) or taking time off without pay.


On the Bright Side:

I did take my "usual" vacation trip to the panhandle of Florida for the International Gathering of the Apostles & Prophets this year. I didn't make it last year so my last trip there was the last trip mom & I took together in October of 2006 before her final problems began in November. Joyce went with me and we "road tripped" it down and had nearly three days to relax before the conference started. That was wonderful! Well, it was for me. She burned to a crisp on the beach the first day and was, therefore, miserable for the rest of the week! Nonetheless, we did get in some shopping and a dolphin watching cruise -- and lots of fresh seafood, mostly in open-air, beach restaurants. Ah ... that's the life!

The conference itself was also EXCELLENT. It was entitled "Apostolic Reformation for City Transformation." We truly are entering into the next reformation of the church. The change in how we "do" and how we "see" church in the coming years will be as significant as the change with the reformation Martin Luther started when he nailed his 95 thesis to the door of the church in Wittenberg "for public discussion" (a common custom of the day). And the shift is starting ...

a new roof -- wait, make that two!

As it turns out, my "new" home was not the only one on which the roof had sustained hail damage. Before I heard back from the roofer and turned in the insurance claim on this one, I was notified by my realtor that the inspection at the house for sale indicated it also had hail damage on that roof. That was last Thursday evening.

Last Friday morning, I had the roofer go check that one out instead of this one & I put in the claim to the insurance company. The adjuster was there Tuesday morning. It took until late Wednesday to get the assessment from the insurance company - which had the replacement cost about $1000 below the cost estimated by the roofer. Finally got them "talking" late yesteray and this morning we came to agreed upon amount. (The adjuster apparently had not measured correctly.) The roofer should have it replaced no later than next Thursday.

I didn't put in the claim for this one until I knew I had that one worked -- for a couple of reasons. (1) I wanted my insurance folks & the roofer focused on getting that one worked. (2) One at a time is enough with which to deal! So, I called today to start the process for getting this one replaced. The adjuster is to be here Monday morning and the roofer will be here at the same time -- so we don't have the 2-3 day "back and forth" issue we had with the other one.

I still don't have a closing date on the other house. The contract calls for "on or before" 10/7. I'm hoping for next Friday, 10/3. We'll see.

I'm still on 3-day work weeks. No indication yet when Boeing will resolve the strike. Once they do, we will likely still have some "lag time" before returning to a full work week. The strike started at 12:01am on Monday, 9/8. We are hoping that it only goes a month. (Typically, they will go at least 29 days due to contract issues between Boeing & their customers. There's a clause that if there is a strike lasting more than 28 days, the delivery dates to the customer slide without penalty. So, if they go out for more than a day or two, Boeing doesn't want them back until at least day 29.) However, they still are not even back at the negotiating table, so there is no predicting how this will go.

I was so happy with getting a lot done at my new place the first weekend that I had Friday & Monday off. I spent BOTH days last weekend and most of today dealing with issues with the other house. I am HOPING to get some trimming done at my new place tomorrow. They planted wisteria EVERYWHERE here - and it "takes over." I am planning to trim as much as I can with my electric hedge trimmer, clippers & shears tomorrow. I'm thinking I may (later) borrow a chainsaw to finish the job off and cut them all the way back. Or have a tree removal company come take them out completely!

This week was week five of the ten-week class I am taking at WSU. It has been very interesting. However, there's quite a bit of reading & other assignments in preparation for each week, so that has taken time as well. And I've had some things I've done and a couple more that I need to get done for the Home Owners Association here, for which I am secretary.

So, no danger of my getting into any trouble ... I don't have time for it!

a better start

It was a good day today ...

It started by getting some much needed rest yesterday. Imagine that, some rest on our "day of rest." What a novel concept!

Because of that, I was actually up and at work by 7:00am. That hasn't happened in a LONG time. (There have been some mornings I was there at 6:15 to "work the parking lots" to get signatures for the union decertification, but that's a different issue!)

So, the next statement should be that I left work on time. Unfortunately, no. I worked through lunch due to back to back meetings and still did not leave until 6:00pm. Remember, I work 10 hr days, so that's really only 1 hr late. But, add to that the fact that I worked 3.5 hours on Friday (my day off), and I may be ending my "no overtime" streak this week -- unless I can find a day to flex out some time. But with all I have to do & the meeting schedule, I doubt it.

But, the concrete guy finally came to remove the framing around my sidewalk. He's supposed to bring some sod tomorrow -- since he waited so long that the sod they dug out has died. But, at least the side walk is finished. (Actually, he called to tell me he hadn't received a check from me. I assured him that was accurate, since he had not completed the job. He decided he could make it by today. :-) )

The window repair guy came today to complete a repair the former owner paid them to do, but they had to wait until the weather warmed to do it. Finally "switched" the winter & summer clothes in my closet this weekend. Until week before last, I was still wearing wool blazers!

I got a letter from the IRS. They have finally decided to pay me some money they owe me from 2003. LONG story. I'm not sure how long it will take to finally get the check, but at least they have decided they really do owe it to me.

And, finally, the realtor let me know that of the five people/couples that come to the open house at my Stoneborough Court house yesterday, three seemed interested. One has been before, but wants me to drop the price unreasonably low. Hopefully, one of the other two couples will be seriously interested. It's been on the market 4 months tomorrow. That may not sound long for some markets, but the economy & housing market are strong in the midwest, and, particularly, here. A month or so ago, Wichita was listed as the #1 market in the nation. So ... 4 months is a long time here!

union busting - part 2

On Friday (5/9/08), I traveled to Overland Park, KS (Kansas City Metro area), to file the petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for an election on whether or not to allow SPEEA to continue representing the Wichita Technical & Professional Unit (WTPU). We had more than the 30% required signatures and more people signed on Friday. Those signatures will be faxed to the NLRB on Monday. We have until close of business Monday to get them in.

The last couple of weeks have definitely been "interesting." :-)

For someone who HATES politics, I have certainly found myself in the midst of it. I can't say I like it. But, if we are not willing to stand up for what we believe, who is it that we believe should?

The past month has DEFINITELY confirmed my conviction that I DO NOT want SPEEA representing me on ANYTHING. The distortion of facts, twisting of truths, and out and out lies they have published (via websites & in emails to members or all represented) testifies of their lack of integrity. Their attempts at intimidation and threats is not only very UNprofessional, it is down right sad.

Both the company (Spirit AeroSystems) and SPEEA should be officially notified by Monday (if they were not on Friday) of the call for an election. A date will be established sometime with the next 50 days.

In the meantime, we have our work cut out for us. With 2400+ employees represented, each "election" has been decided by only a few votes difference. We need to shift the tipping point to the "no" side this time.

We've had 7 years of forced representation that has not provided any identifiable benefit to the masses -- and in fact provided less for us than to our non-represented counterparts (of which I was gratefully one until early this year). There are individual cases where they went to bat for someone and helped in a situation. However, the benefit to those few has come at the expense of all of the rest of us. Enough is enough.

union busting

One thing with which I have been involved the last month or so that I haven't mentioned is trying to get a union decertified.

Last June when I transferred positions at work, my first question about the newly formed positon was "what is the job code and is it represented?" (That means, "is it covered by some union contract?") The answer was that they were not changing our job codes from what they were "for now." Ok, I knew then that sooner or later "now" would become history! It made it until mid-February.

The "bargaining unit" is called the Wichita Technical & Professional Union (WTPU), but is represented by SPEEA (Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace). They also "represent" the engineers, but in a different "bargaining unit" -- which means under a separately negotiated contract.

Fortunately, Kansas is a "right to work" state. That means you do not have to join the union & pay dues to them just because you work in a position for which they negotiate the contract. But, I HATE unions. And I do not want them "representing" me -- because they certainly do NOT represent my thoughts, beliefs, or values.

There is a window of opportunity just before each new contract negotiation time to petition for a vote to "re-certify" (or de-certify) whether or not the people being represented want them to continue to do that. To do that, you have to have a petition with a minimum of 30% of those represented signing saying they want the new vote. If you get more than 50%, they are out without even having to have a vote.

I am one of eight people who have been spearheading (and funding) that effort. Per labor laws, once a union is in place, the company can not assist in the effort to decertify them in any way. So, we have an externally hosted website (http://www.vote-no-wtpu.net/DecertHome.aspx), have sent emails to everyone represented from an external email address, and have flyers up in our cubicles (there rules about where you can even put them), etc.

At this point, we have about 2/3 of the signatures we need for the vote. We have until around May 1 to collect them. The signatures (names) have to be certified (verified that they really are in the represented group) and turned in to the National Labor Relations Board by May 11.

So ... that's another one of the things I've been up to lately. This is the third attempt since they were voted in by a margin of (if I remember correctly) 42 votes in 2001 when we were still part of Boeing to try to get rid of them. Hopefully, 3rd time's the charm!