Just thinking 'bout...

Hmmmm...well, maybe something will come to me...I feel like my mind's a void tonight.

I spent today recertifying my Emergency First Aid. The company I do the relief work for on weekends pays its employees a whopping $13.30/hour for work. The nature of the job puts the front line workers in danger occasionally, due to the nature of the people we work with, especially with the hard core cases out in the town I work in. This means on an annual basis, even for full time work, the employees are faced with incomes that barely (if even) put them above the poverty line. On top of that, the company feels compelled to "ding" the same employees for certifications that all the companies in the field use to train employees and yet, continues to remain profitable. We get charged to take First Aid ($65), for taking our Crisis Prevention courses (initially $22 and then a $10 charge /year to recertify), for completing a security search through the police (which usually costs $15-$20), for adding third party insurance to our vehicles in the amount of $1 million (depending on insurance carriers, it all adds costs), and we only get paid a pittance for mileage that accrues when we transport clients around (not even 10 cents/km). Is there any way to standardize the requirements and funding for these things? The argument that has been raised to me is that we are asked to pay for the courses that we take because they are standard requirements across the board and that there continues to be a drive to move to other companies if the opportunity arises. Why not have employee loyalty built upon by actually paying for them to take the courses? I don't understand it at all. I think that if the employees see that the company is offering perks to their employees in terms of the training they receive, that it should contribute to loyalty, rather than take away from it.

Okay there's my rant du jour.

I found out this evening that core strengthening and yoga are a pretty good combination, if you can bear the pain of stretching everything that has been tense out again. Yowsers!!! I came home and did my core exercises again - still waiting for the stiffness to subside, but hopefully it won't be long before that happens. I have my appointment at the spa tomorrow and am really looking forward to it. I'm still getting weird aches down my legs, although I'm not nearly in as much pain as I was last weekend. Maybe the massage tomorrow will help.

Eating was still on track. Had my cup of coffee for the week this morning, along with the standard oatmeal. Lunch was two of the leftover hamburgers from last night with a big salad. That held me over until I got home, then I had some yogourt (fat free) and a couple more hamburgers before I went to yoga (boring, but functional, and I didn't have time to prepare anything fancy - the joys of being single!!)

Total calories: 1853 - 34% fat, 39% carbs, and 27% protein. 12% saturated fat, 3% polyunsaturated, and 14% monounsaturated fat. Guess I'm still on track.

Stephen and Rosemary have arrived safe and sound in Britain, and are currently hanging out with my cousin in London (and it sounds like they're trying to shake the 7 hour time difference).