Working in a coal mine

[cyrano]

So I meant to mention it but didn't because I forgot.
Until last week I had a 10-8 shift. This meant that I was at work in time for the big 11 o'clock block (when a bunch of flights go out at the same time) but technically was supposed to sign off in the middle of the 8 o'clock block. Schedule started the last week of April, and I was still taking the train. I discovered that if I clocked out and ran to the front of the airport I could grab the 8:15 bus and just make the 8:30 train home. If I missed the 8:15 bus I missed the 8:30 train and had to wait until 9:40. This was not so good.
In May I had no money and couldn't afford the big chunk of change needed to buy a train pass. So I told my bosses 'Since I'm driving now I might as well stay for the eight o'clock flights.' And I discovered that the fifteen minutes daily of overtime I was getting would come pretty close to covering my expenses to drive to work.
However.
This shift had been created by taking the usual ten hour shift (10-8:30 with a half an hour unpaid for lunch) and cropped half an hour off it as a money-saving effort and no real thought put into the effects of that missing half hour.
So last week Headquarters informed my grandboss that *gasp*horror* people were getting overtime, and this must be stopped at once. So Tony 'adjusted' my shift, and now I'm working 10:30 to 8:30, which means I am comfortably working through the 8 block but I have much less prep time for the 11 block. Which is usually okay but if I have to travel far to get to my gate or there's a really fucked up flight then there's trouble.

I thought there was something else I was going to write about but I have a very tiny brain and cannot recall it.
However, it does look like most of my friends/readers are stern and unforgiving grammar fascists and I love you for it. Poll #137667, about people who can't spell and then proceed to write email, indicates that all but one of you (the merciful lizard) would like to see people use a spell checker or be executed. Those of you that ventured further opinions overwhelmingly felt that people who can't spell have less trouble reading other people who can't spell. But you were evenly divided on whether it was easier for them to read people who can spell.

Comments

[wilson-lizard.livejournal.com]

That's 'cause she spent a fair amount of time in remedial spelling classes way back when. :)

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

So are spell checkers of any use? Or do they just confound the problem further?

[wilson-lizard.livejournal.com]

I use spell check all the time. The one I really like is in Outlook Express, because it tells you right away when you've misspelled a word. I know I've learned a share of words because I had them come on the spell check a lot of times. "their" is one.

My spelling improved a lot from those early classes, and I think typing has really made a huge difference. I don't know, something about having my fingers keyed into the stroke patterns maybe helps my recall.