You may, or may not have, noticed over the past years that I don’t blog about my day job. The reason is simple: I don’t want to get fired. Today I break that rule, but only because I have something really nice to say and it could happen at most work sites.
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I have done shift work for a number of years. For the past 18 months I’ve been a day-worker on a shift that goes eight days on, six days off. Doing the math, you will note that I work every other weekend.
While I’m not a huge fan of that part of the deal, it does make things stable on the weekends for my employer. We’re a 24×7 operation and when you have the same two crews every weekend (there is another crew on the opposite rotation) it leads to a stable situation for the customers. ‘Nuff said about what I do and where I do it. Pretty generic.
I don’t like missing church. Because of my shift, and the time of service at my church, I only go about 2/5 of the time to my home church. Christmas season puts a big hole in my attendance, as people want Santa at their church parties, football games, etc., and there’s only five weekends in the Santa season. I miss other days due to travel, writer’s conferences, etc. But I love my church and they understand that making a living is important as well. I do attend services almost every week, just at another church that works for my schedule. God’s house is God’s house.
I also miss having Sunday dinner with my wife after church. I’m a pretty good cook and really enjoy making a special meal for us every week. But the weekends when I work it has been a time for pizza, sandwiches, and other fast food.
Until recently. A couple of months ago a few of us started having Sunday dinners at work. Started out simple, a crock pot full of chili and some bratwurst. Then it was drumsticks and potatoes in the crock pot. This last week I’m pretty sure we outdid ourselves with the meal.
I shop for the food on Friday, bring it in Saturday, and a coworker on the early shift throws it all in the pot to start it at seven in the morning Sunday. Ready to eat by 1:30 most days. Others bring a salad or desert.
The menu this week? Pork tenderloin surrounded by a bedding of maple/honey breakfast sausages, hash brown potatoes, and corn. Did I mention that I mummified the tenderloin in applewood bacon?
After cooking for five hours, I added a can of cream of celery, and a can of cream of mushroom soup to the pot. Let it simmer for about 45 minutes, and then added brown rice to soak up the extra moisture. All of this was heavily seasoned with curry, chili powder, and garlic powder.
Tuesday I finished the last of the leftovers. Rarely have I eaten so well at work for such an extended period. Best of all, it cost each of us $5.00 for the ingredients, including two loaves of French bread and butter.
It’s nice to break bread with good people. I miss my wife on those weekends, but the smell of good food wafting through the office takes a bit of sting out of those ten hour shifts.
Now if I could just figure out how to avoid doing the dishes afterward…
Be blessed and break bread with some people you love this week. And, as always, thanks for dropping by.
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