Sunflower Update & RANT

I originally planted 30 sunflower seedlings around the yard.  This batch was 12 days from seeding to planting, though they could have been planted on day 11, maybe 10.   Then the critters got many, so I seeded 24 more in cardboard tubes.  I figured I would fill in around the yard with half and take the other half to work for the clients to enjoy.  On Sunday, after only 8 days (but the nights had been warmer) I planted 10 seedlings around the yard, reseeded two that did not come up, and had 12 others to take to work.

Seeding to seedling came sooner than I expected for this batch.  I was busy on Monday at work, but I would have time Tuesday morning to take some of our early-arriving clients out to plant before classes started, so I pushed it 2 days longer than the seedlings would have preferred.  They were all more than as tall as the tube already and flopping over, but I felt they were still viable.

Then this morning came.  Well, someone called in sick so I had to cover their job coaching duties that morning, and I had my own duties that afternoon.  My boss said I was the only one that could, though I am well aware there was at least one other that could have if they wanted.  I told her about the sunflowers and how they had to get in the ground that day, and it fell on deaf ears.

This was personal to me.  I had planned this all spring (and they knew that), used my own time and resources, and looked forward to sharing these with the clients all summer.

Never again.  Never again will I donate any extra time or resources for this job.

I like the work we do, I personally like most of the people I work with - including management, and of course the clients are (mostly) great.  But this truly may be the most poorly managed place I ever worked.

I don't talk about my work much here.  It's mostly like any other place, with cliques and favoritism and gossip.  Whiners, slackers and assholes are everywhere.  (If I had to put myself in one of those categories it would be the latter.)  I was hoping to ride this out, but I feel I should find something else soon.  The only real hesitation to resigning is health insurance for me and my wife.  Even a one month gap could cost us several hundreds to a thousand dollars to remain insured, and it would more likely be 2-3 months that we would have to cover.  Healthcare in America is tied to full time employment, is rapidly declining, and the insurance system that supports it is rigged only to make money.  (As I write this I requested prescription renewals a week ago Friday.  I received a response on Tuesday to allow 48 to 72 hours.  Here it is a week after that and I've not heard anything yet.)

Anyway, I came home to a tangled box of seedlings that should have been in the ground days ago.  I got them all in the ground around here, someplace or another, but I'm sure not all will make it.

Yes, I could have waited another day or two and planted them at work and hoped for the best.  I  could plant another batch and try again in just over a week, too.  But no - just, no.  They knew, and that time has now passed.  My time for them may have now passed, too.  Believe me, this is not my first complaint.

Thanks for making it to the end of my rant.  I even got a good one in on healthcare there.  This weekend I'll take stock of the sunflowers and report back how many are still alive and how many I think will make it to maturity.  Thanks for listening, take care.