Entries this day: Breakfast_theft Work ma_and_jon

Breakfast theft

9:10am JST Monday 10 November 2003

(btw, Becker's has a morning menu without a chicken sandwich. Bunch of croissants and crap; I wanna sammich)

so instead I went to the convenience store and an old guy was walking without watching where he was going and I was like, hey man, watch where you're going

Though he wasn't watching where he was going, the clerks were watching. He tried to roll out of the store with his 200 yen (*) worth of breakfast, but the clerk pushed a button and called some cats from the back who (gently) caught him and took his goods. I dunno where/what is next for him.

Work

5:55pm JST Monday 10 November 2003

Today at work I was asking why/complaining about how if we sign a shift swap with another employee, the request only goes as far as scheduling, but not payroll. I can see how payroll (corporate level) and scheduling (branch / area level) are two separate functions, but I wonder why Nova verbally enforces us to pay the difference in value between two separate shifts. Basically a weekend shift is worth more than a weekday shift, and a late shift is worth more than an early shift. And people who have been here longer make more money than those who have not. Their time spent working is "worth more" than the other person's time spent working.

So the idea is if two people do a shift swap, and the shifts are not of equal value (due to the shift or the employee), the employees are asked to settle the difference.

Because this settlement request is coming from Nova, then it should be handled by payroll; the correct salary should be paid to each employee. Done. No employee worries about anything but covering the shift they agreed to cover.

But it's not. We have to "take care of it ourselves"

ANYWAY, I was like, "that's dumb; either Nova should not care, or they should make it happen."

Actually I was like, "why is it like this (dumb way)?"

JLo was like, "because the pay-difference is handled by each individual."

I'm like, "no, each pay-difference is handled because Nova doesn't make the adjustment at payroll. It's like the shift-swap only goes halfway." (at this point I hadn't recognized the functions of payroll and functions of scheduling take place at different levels of the hierarchy.)

"Yes, that's right." JLo agreed with me as if he always had been agreeing. "But Nova would have to make a whole new department to handle the requests."

I was thinking, no; they just fix it once in the computers; make it an integrated system

"they would hire yakuza to enforce the collection; it's better to just have the individuals do it."

Oh my god.

It woulda been funny if they were joking.

ma and jon

7:57pm JST Monday 10 November 2003

Fixed a problem with Kim Sawyer's website tonight. For some reason the sci-fi content was completely missing from the site. I had a backup and restored it. Whew.

Ma and Jon are in town!

I'm going to see them (sneak into the hotel overnight tonight) and go with them on their tour (not sneaking in) tomorrow. Whoohoo!

Oooh gotta charge my camera batteries tonight.

9:06pm

For some reason my name isn't on the tour for tomorrow, so I can't go with them to Nikko. Except *also*, Jon hurt his knee today so he will forfeit is seat on the tour so that I can take his place and he can chill in the hotel for a day. Very convenient. Mental hugs and love to his knee for giving me a chance to be harassed by monkeys tomorrow.

I'm on Toyoko line train now, headed for Shibuya. Then to Shinagawa. Then to bounce over to the Prince hotel. Rock.

11:04pm JST Monday 10 November 2003

Made it to the hotel with no problem. Was able to make out the hiragana and katakana on the station map to find generally where the hotel was, read the English signage once I got near the hotel and basically walked straight to their room though I had no conscious idea which direction to go. Though she told me over the phone where to go; I didn't really draw a map in my mind as she told me; it just kinda fell into place. Sweet.