Monday, June 14, 2010

Extra Work For Free

This morning my carpool driver told me that she wants to start coming in early and leaving early. The leaving early part sounded interesting so I said that it was a good idea. Then she said that she was going to ask the boss if she can come in at 7 and leave at 4:30. Hmm... Our hours are 8:15 to 5 with a 45 minutes lunch. If she comes in at 7, she should leave at 3:45. She didn't think the boss would go for that since another coworker comes in at 6 and leaves at 4:30.

On the way home she said the boss approved her plan but she couldn't promise that she would be ready to leave at 4:30. Right now we usually leave 15 minutes late or more because she has a lot to do. I have often thought that when my mortgage was gone I would stop carpooling because it adds at least 20 minutes on to the commute each way plus the time that I am waiting for her in the evenings. In the winter it is especially annoying because I don't like taking care of the dogs in the dark. I said, gee that's great but since gas is only $2.50 right now, I don't think I can make it out of bed an hour early (for no added benefit).

So we decided to stop carpooling, at least until gas goes up to $3 and I am more motivated to get out of bed. It will be more wear and tear on my truck but I will have more time and flexibility which I value a lot.

5 comments:

Kylie said...

You made the right decision. Is she crazy for wanting to do more work? Did she try asking what you suggested first?

Enjoy your extra time. :)

Lizzie @ her homeworld said...

woohoo, extra work for free, Does it get any better. Oh yes, it does. At least you can make the decision not to car share any more with a clear conscience.

Daizy said...

1million, she is always taking work home. She is dedicated, unlike me! I don't think she tried my suggestion. I think she wanted to work longer so that she wouldn't have to take work home...as much.

Daizy said...

Lizzie, I might not get a big raise this year because of my lack of dedication but I don't care. There is more to life than a job.

Dave said...

Daizy, when I switched from working FT to PT, my raises went from way above average to average or maybe slightly above average. And being a part-timer, I did not receive a bonus until the second year they gave out regular, annual bonuses to everyone.

I had just taken a 40% pay CUT to work PT, so do you think I really cared if I were getting a 3% raise or a 4% raise? The bonuses were nice, though, at about 9% of my annual pay.