It’s Wednesday. Hump day, some call it, as it gets you over-the-hump for the typical work week. Although I haven’t been employed for a while, I still can see how there is no typical work week for most folks any longer. The days of the eight to four thirty are finished in most places.
I have a friend that is in the trucking industry. He works on the docks of a major national freight hauler, Yellow Transit, which is now Yellow Freight Systems. You’d think that after being with a corporation for 30 years, and being in the Teamster’s Union, that he’d have seniority and work a good shift as he nears retirement. Not the case. He was laid off for a while through the economic plunge the past few years, and still works nights and weekends. So much for all the talk about Unions and the benefits.
Anyway, getting back to the phrase “Hump Day”, Wednesday is mid week. Many of the appointments I have at the VA Medical Center in Minneapolis are scheduled on Mondays and Tuesdays. I occasionally get an appointment on other days of the week.
Mrs. Spadoman’s work schedule has her working three days one week and four days the next. Every other week, Wednesday is her Friday. The Grandkids still go to school Monday through Friday, but little else is on the “weekday” schedule.
When I worked at a large grocery chain in Chicago many years ago, the store opened at 8:00 AM and closed at 9:00 PM Monday through Friday. Saturday, they closed at 6:00 PM and they were closed all day Sunday.
Now, you’ll be hard pressed to find a grocery store that is not open 24/7. Many are even open on holidays for limited hours. Convenience stores, or gas stations, are open throughout the holidays, 24/7 365. A few bars have this schedule as well.
Bar hours vary some, here and there, but most in Wisconsin open at eight in the morning and serve alcohol until 2:00 AM. In Chicago, it’s as early as they want to open, usually 6 AM, and they close for a couple of hours to clean at 4 AM if they have the late hours licensing issued by the city authorities.
This post is absolutely useless and is filled with random thoughts and has no redeeming value whatsoever. I just thought I should write something and started blabbering on the keyboard.
In other news;
Mrs. Spadoman has been in Florida since last Friday. I will get her at the airport this afternoon.
A good friend that I haven’t seen for a few years is in nearby Minnesota and will visit us this weekend. He’ll stay at our place as our guest and we’ll have a BBQ on Saturday.
Next weekend, Mrs. Spadoman and I are off to Chicago. We’ll be taking the Megabus instead of driving, and we’ll stay Downtown at the Sheraton. Megabus has express through service from Minneapolis to Chicago for about 25 bucks a person, one way. We’ll use taxis to get around Downtown Chicago and won’t have to deal with parking and driving in traffic.
We’ll see Jersey Boys with the Broadway traveling troupe on Friday night and go to Wrigley Field and watch the Cubs play Cincinnati Saturday afternoon.
On April 28th, I leave, with my motorcycle in tow, for Northern California. I’ll be away from home about two weeks and will return with my friend Hal and his motorcycle so we can continue riding the Northern reaches of Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
That ought to keep me busy for a while.
Peace
