So I am not working at my full-tie job tomorrow; as I am required, I am using my personal time off instead. I get paid whenever I use it; that is a concept I did not understand until I got a job with benefits. And that's really cool, getting paid while not working.
And it may have taken me a little longer to put two and two together, but once I came to grips that I would have to miss work because of my commitments on the weekends to both my alumni club and Vikings Games, I realized that I can turn this into an advantage. To put a finer point on it, I could use my paid time off in order to work somewhere else. And I did that to huge effect back in April; I took off four days in order to work the Final Four. Thus, I double-dipped; I worked for TV for six straight days (where I pulled down some massive checks; TV money flows freely) and I got paid for taking time off away from my job. I got paid for two jobs for that week, and I was only in one place!
Something similar happens tomorrow. In the late summer, before the NFL season began, I was asked by TV if I could help with Vikings Games on Sundays. Since I don't work at my job Sundays, I said yes to all the Games they broadcast. However, my contact then asked if I could be a runner for the Saturdays before those Games. I checked the calendar at work; although it was months away, by the time I checked the calendar, I was assigned to specific departments on the Saturdays before Vikes Games, and to me, I felt as though I was committed to working my job when I saw those assignments.
There was one exception: December 7. I was not assigned anywhere, according to the calendar. When I am not assigned anywhere on the calendar, I assume I am at my "default" position, Data Entry. And while Saturdays get very hairy when it comes to work (we're not crushed with applications; it's just that fewer people work on Saturday because, well, it's Saturday), I felt like there would still be enough people to work Data Entry that I could break away from work, just for that one Saturday, work TV for the Vikes' Game, and double-dip. And so I am able to pull off this smart move again.
Now, when I committed to working the "set" day as well as the game day, it was before Labor Day. Things change. The company went through a spate of departures. And while my boss was able to hire someone who holds a similar position as I, it looks as though that, if I were not working the Vikings for television tomorrow, I would be assigned to the same department I had been working the past three days. (Since I am away, one of the people who works this department full-time is coming in and getting overtime for it.) But I wasn't assigned anywhere specifically when I was asked by TV, so I took it off instead.
No regrets. Don't feel guilty. Like I said, I think this is smart. I should do this more often. For example, the NCAA Wrestling Championships is coming to U. S. Bank Stadium for three days in March. If I can find the crew who hires for that, and if I can contact those people, and I get hired, I'll take however many days off in order to work it. I could use the money, and "being in two places at once" is a great way to make it.
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One thing: For the past few years, there has been one guy, just one dude, who has worked as the two-day runner for this network's Vikings Games. He has been there long enough whereby I presume that the contact would just go to that person and ask him if he can work weekends whenever they come in. But like I said, this contact asked me if I can work any of those weekends. It feels as though she approached me first, not this regular.
I saw the production sheet; he will be working as a runner, but just for Sunday. He has to be thinking, "Why am I not working Saturday for the Lions Game?" He probably also saw the sheet and saw me -- a guy who usually just does statistics -- doing his job instead.
Is he jealous? Is he mad? Will he take it out on me when he sees me Sunday? You don't know people.
And it may have taken me a little longer to put two and two together, but once I came to grips that I would have to miss work because of my commitments on the weekends to both my alumni club and Vikings Games, I realized that I can turn this into an advantage. To put a finer point on it, I could use my paid time off in order to work somewhere else. And I did that to huge effect back in April; I took off four days in order to work the Final Four. Thus, I double-dipped; I worked for TV for six straight days (where I pulled down some massive checks; TV money flows freely) and I got paid for taking time off away from my job. I got paid for two jobs for that week, and I was only in one place!
Something similar happens tomorrow. In the late summer, before the NFL season began, I was asked by TV if I could help with Vikings Games on Sundays. Since I don't work at my job Sundays, I said yes to all the Games they broadcast. However, my contact then asked if I could be a runner for the Saturdays before those Games. I checked the calendar at work; although it was months away, by the time I checked the calendar, I was assigned to specific departments on the Saturdays before Vikes Games, and to me, I felt as though I was committed to working my job when I saw those assignments.
There was one exception: December 7. I was not assigned anywhere, according to the calendar. When I am not assigned anywhere on the calendar, I assume I am at my "default" position, Data Entry. And while Saturdays get very hairy when it comes to work (we're not crushed with applications; it's just that fewer people work on Saturday because, well, it's Saturday), I felt like there would still be enough people to work Data Entry that I could break away from work, just for that one Saturday, work TV for the Vikes' Game, and double-dip. And so I am able to pull off this smart move again.
Now, when I committed to working the "set" day as well as the game day, it was before Labor Day. Things change. The company went through a spate of departures. And while my boss was able to hire someone who holds a similar position as I, it looks as though that, if I were not working the Vikings for television tomorrow, I would be assigned to the same department I had been working the past three days. (Since I am away, one of the people who works this department full-time is coming in and getting overtime for it.) But I wasn't assigned anywhere specifically when I was asked by TV, so I took it off instead.
No regrets. Don't feel guilty. Like I said, I think this is smart. I should do this more often. For example, the NCAA Wrestling Championships is coming to U. S. Bank Stadium for three days in March. If I can find the crew who hires for that, and if I can contact those people, and I get hired, I'll take however many days off in order to work it. I could use the money, and "being in two places at once" is a great way to make it.
---
One thing: For the past few years, there has been one guy, just one dude, who has worked as the two-day runner for this network's Vikings Games. He has been there long enough whereby I presume that the contact would just go to that person and ask him if he can work weekends whenever they come in. But like I said, this contact asked me if I can work any of those weekends. It feels as though she approached me first, not this regular.
I saw the production sheet; he will be working as a runner, but just for Sunday. He has to be thinking, "Why am I not working Saturday for the Lions Game?" He probably also saw the sheet and saw me -- a guy who usually just does statistics -- doing his job instead.
Is he jealous? Is he mad? Will he take it out on me when he sees me Sunday? You don't know people.
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