Work & Politics - 8 days a week

Eight Days a Week is an old Beatles song, one Paul McCartney, it is also the length of my work week... and I'm in the middle of it... and it's only going to get worse.  Tomorrow I get to open which means a 0330 wake-up call.  Wednesday and Thursday I get to stay up all night.  I can remember, when I was younger, staying up all night was not a big thing.  Now I hate it.  Oh, I do get Friday off, but after working a couple of overnights the day is pretty much a waste.  Besides, on Saturday I have to open the store again which means another 0330 wake-up call.
The following week I have someone named Stephen schedule in the department.  Since nobody knows who Stephen is, I asked the scheduler who flippantly said, "oh, don't worry, I'm just hiding him there, his hours are going to Admin, not you."  That's right, she's hiding somebody's hours in my department and charging them to another department.  They hired a guy a while back to work evening freight but I understand he now wants to work days so maybe she's trying to fudge his hours which, accounting wise, is not kosher.
The Democratic National Convention begins this evening.... I don't watch conventions.  Anyway, Hillary will get a big bump in the polls.  This always happens.  Poll watchers know this.  If you're not a poll watcher and read this blog... well, now you do.  Three weeks from now polls might show a little more relevance, but not now.
I think it's funny, the Ruskies seem to like Trump.  Way back when the DNC computers got hacked?  That's the first thing I thought of, you know?  Putin and Trump - soul mates.

The home improvement retail giant I work for does a 'healthy challenge' every summer.  This is a 6 week challenge in which associates are supposed to work on creating a more healthy lifestyle for themselves and their families.  If you want to continue getting a discount on your health insurance, you need to participate.  This year, unfortunately, they are showing participation by state.  Pennsylvania has a little over 10% participating, which is just another way of spelling 'failure.'  And you can bet, 99.9% of that 10% are only doing it for that discount.  If they want to promote healthy living, they need to link it to something other than the discount because I can tell you, most of the people from my store who are participating cheat.  This is how it goes.

Declutter this

Like many corporations these days, the one I work for offers several ways in which associates can reduce the amount they pay for their health care.  For example, non-smokers receive a $20 incentive every month tacked onto their paycheck.  Unfortunately they don't go that extra step to verify you are a non-smoker, most likely because it would require a pee test.  I suspect it's because the cost of having those non-smokers dribble a few drops in a little vile in order to verify their veracity isn't worth the logistical expense.  Pee may not be as cheap as we think.

In the past, they have also given an additional $50 per month incentive if you participated in a "hidden health screening," where they do some blood work to check you cholesterol, triglycerides, and sugar. I always pass because, as my personal physician says, I have good genes.  Translate this to read "I can eat a gallon of real ice cream every week without having adverse effects."  The only thing I have to worry about is the weight, and if I worked out more I wouldn't have to worry about that.  This year, however, to get that extra moola in your check you also need to participate in a Health Challenge.  There is no way to option out.  So, being the cheapy I am, I signed up.

The challenge is broken down into 3 areas: exercise, diet, and stress reduction.  Starting July 10 I will need to sign in and provide answers to questions in order to earn points.  Of course there is no real tracking here.  There is no audit process for those taking the challenge.  Oh, and the questions are rather simplistic.

Which BMI would you prefer?

I can't make note that I ate a pint of Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia this afternoon, but I can click the button recording the fact that I ate 6 helpings of fruits and vegetables.  I can report that I did at least 30 minutes of "moderate exercise," but I can't let them know I did 45 minutes on the elliptical followed by 20 minutes of free weights.  The "stress reduction" bit is more then a little amusing with questions like:  "Did you simplify you finances?" and "Did you take 15 minutes to declutter?"  Usually I declutter every morning, before I take a shower.

The 'challenge' runs for two months.  In order to continue to receive the incentive you need to participate for at least 3 weeks.  Since they are doing it from the privacy of their own homes, associates can be as honest or dishonest as they like.  I'll bet a gallon of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream many of them will fudge it.  Me?  I'll give them the facts as best as I am able.  Do you think they really care if, right after I publish this, I'm going to chow down on a large pepperoni pizza?  Nah.  Most likely those in charge are gambling that many of those participating will fail and the corporation will end up saving some money.  Hey, maybe they could use the money they save to pay for a pee test.